Agadir/Morocco – They had played the two most outstanding rounds of the tournament: Antoine Rozner a 63 in the first round, James Wilson a 62 on the second day of the Open Ocean in Inezgane near Agadir. The Frenchman and the Englishman proved their class with rounds of 8 and 9 under par, respectively, and in the end they also decided who won the Open Ocean among themselves: Tying with 13 under par, they competed in the play-off at hole 9 of the Golf de L’Ocean championship course, a 370 metre long par 4. Wilson hit the ball perfectly and turned it into a par a bit later, which was synonymous with victory, as Rozner had mishit his tee shot and had to record five strokes.

“I'm really thrilled that I managed to bag my first victory on the Pro Golf Tour,” says Wilson, who celebrated the greatest success of his professional career to date. The flawless round of 62 with seven birdies and one eagle “was by far the best round of my life,” says the 29-year-old. “Everything was totally relaxed, I felt great and was in the flow.”

Wilson went into the final day four strokes ahead but felt it was more of a burden: “It's not easy to start with such a big lead,” says the Brit, even though he managed the opening perfectly: with an eagle at hole 2, he set himself even further apart from his rivals. But Rozner closed the gap quickly with birdies at holes 3, 5, 6, 8 and 10 and only dropped back due to a double bogey at hole 11. “I only looked at the scoreboard after hole 17 and knew I needed a par on the 18th to win,” says Wilson. The following bogey forced him into extra time but after its happy ending the joy was twice as great: “All the hard work has paid off,” says Wilson, who collects 5,000 euros in prize money and climbs to 11th place in the Pro Golf Tour Order of Merit.

The Open Ocean was the first tournament of the third Morocco Swing of the 2019 season. Round 1 of the Open Tazegzout is on the tour calendar on 3 April; then it's time for another 30,000 euros prize money on the Tazegzout course on the coast.