Italian Marco Crespi claimed his maiden win in the Race to Dubai after claiming the NH Collection Open title in Spain with a two-stroke victory over Aberdeen player Richie Ramsay.
Crespi, a 35-year-old two-time Challenge Tour winner, who finished the third round one shot off the lead, recorded five birdies and two bogeys to finish with a 69 yesterday to claim a 10-under-par total for the victory.
But after a winter ruined by an Achilles injury suffered on a training run, Ramsay had more reason than most to celebrate his return to form.
After finishing just outside the top 10 in his last outing in the Hassan Trophy in Morocco last month, the 30-year-old Aberdonian continued his outstanding form with a final-round 68 to finish two shots off the lead.
Home challenger Jordi Garcia Pinto, Chile’s Felipe Aguilar and third-round leader Matthew Nixon, of England, were one stroke further back.
Nixon, who led following a superb 65 at La Reserva de Sotogrande on Saturday, suffered in the final round as he carded four bogeys, along with an eagle on the 15th and a birdie on the fourth, leaving him with 73 on the par-72 course.
Crespi, who impressed with four birdies in the first nine holes, was delighted with his win. He said: “I started very well today. I birdied the first and that gave me the confidence to go low and that’s it. I just had to manage my pressure on the back nine.”
Crespi admitted it was tough, with Aguilar coming close at one point before losing a couple of shots, but he was confident he could win it.
He added: “Felipe was very close, but he made a couple of mistakes so he made it easier for me.
“I lost a couple of shots on 12 and 13. On 12 I hit a very bad eight iron to the green, my only bad shot of the day. On 13 I had a very long iron, a three iron and it wasn’t a really bad shot.
“But then I birdied the next. I really like the 14th because I birdied it every day. Anyway, I played very well and I am very happy.”
Scotland’s Marc Warren and England’s Oliver Fisher did well to keep up with the leaders, but eventually finished in a four-way tie for sixth after both carding a final-round 68 to finish on six-under-par, with Wales’s Bradley Dredge a shot further back.