Liberec/Czech Republic - “It feels absolutely fantastic. I’m thrilled about this win.” A grinning Richard Jouven accepted the cup of the EXTEC Trophy 2018 by ATOMIC DRINKS and thanked his competitors and sponsors, and in particular Ypsilon Golf Resort, which once again was in an excellent condition for the tournament. At first, not all signs were pointing to a win for the 26-year-old: In round 2, Chris Robb of Scotland conjured up a score of 66 on the 72-par course and secured a lead of three strikes over the local hero Ondrej Lieser. Still, Jouven showed both his sporting skills and his nerves of steel in the final round: On the 16th fairway he scored the same as Robb, took the lead on the 17th hole and scored on par on the 18th fairway. Shortly afterwards, the Scotsman reached the 18th green, he also scored par and narrowly missed the playoff.

Jouven, originally from Marseille, improved his performance round after round: “The course is really beautiful and my game went really well. However, the wind really didn’t go easy on me,” said the Frenchman, and explained: “My putts worried me a little, luckily my irons were very precise. Now I’m a big step closer to my goal; advancing to the Challenge Tour.”

And in fact: Richard Jouven has made an incredible jump from 54th to 14th in the Pro Golf Tour Order of Merit, which is still led by the Scotsman Liam Johnston with 9988.50 points. The professionals now have ten tournaments left to kick Johnston off the top spot. Players on the Pro Golf Tour have their next opportunity to score points at the Raiffeisen Pro Golf Tour St. Pölten 2018, presented by Elation Travel, which is being held at St. Pölten Golf Club in Lower Austria from 30th May to 1st June.