Robert Coles chalked up the biggest win of his career after home favourite Paul Lawrie dropped four strokes over the closing three holes to miss out on victory in the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship by a shot.
Lawrie was sitting on seven-under and two strokes ahead of Coles after 15 holes before bogeys at 16 and 17 and a double bogey on the 18th handed Coles the opportunity to win the top prize of £93,000 at Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire.
Coles’ closing round of one-under 71 made him the only player who finished in the top-10 to shoot under par on the final day with the blustery conditions making scoring tough.
Lawrie started the day with a four-shot lead but was left to ponder what could have been after his closing round of four-over 76.
Coles, a three-time winner on the Challenge Tour, said the success was the highlight of his golfing career to date.
The 51-year-old, who received a congratulatory phone call from former US president Donald Trump moments after his victory, said: “I’m ecstatic.
“I never thought for one moment I had it, to be honest.
“Paul is such a good player.
“He hit some poor shots for his quality. I know he will be disappointed.
“I just got lucky at the right time. I just got my nose in front at that point.
“I feel for Paul.
“I know he wasn’t at his very best. He was very unlucky.
“It felt like a bit of hit-and-run, I’m afraid.
“It is comfortably the biggest win of my career.”
Challenging conditions at Balmedie
He started the day with a four-shot advantage over Englishmen Simon Khan and Coles.
That was reduced to one shot when the Aberdonian picked up a bogey on third while Coles birdied holes 1 and 3.
It was a two-shot advantage by the time they reached the turn after both players bogeyed the eighth and Coles followed with another dropped shot at the next hole after finding a bunker off the tee.
With the wind in their favour, both players birdied the par-five 10th but tougher challenges lay ahead as they went down the closing stretch into the wind.
By the time they reached the 18th they were level on five-under and it was Coles – with a bogey six – who emerged victorious, much to the disappointment of the majority of the local crowd.
Coles said: “The crowds were great.
“Obviously they’d be rooting for Paul but they were fair and gracious and I really appreciated that.
“It’s amazing. It hasn’t sunk in yet. To pip Paul, too. I know he’s been unlucky at the last but it’s fantastic for me.
“My short game has been exceptional this week.
“Not that long ago, I did think that when I played with some of these guys my short game wasn’t good enough.
“I’ve worked hard on that and to hit those shots when I needed to was great.
“I had a good chip on 16 and a good putt on 17 and they were big.
“I scrambled my way around today. It was so tough. You were going to scramble. I relied on my short game heavily.
“I’ve been so disappointed with myself over the last year or so as I felt I had a few opportunities to win and never saw it through.
“I was getting very frustrated with myself.
“Patience is a big thing and I have been a bit more patient of late. That’s helped me this week. Pars have been good this week and that taught me to be more patient too.
“I’m a PGA man and this is great. Luckily I won the PGA Professionals Championship at Moor Park earlier this year so I’ve done a PGA double. I’m thrilled by that.”
Host Montgomerie finishes top-10
Khan finished third on one-under after a closing 74 with Alex Cejka, Doug McGuigan and Phillip Price tied fourth on one-over.
Tournament host Colin Montgomerie was one shot further back after signing off with a third successive 73 to finish tied seventh alongside 2005 US Open champion Michael Campbell.
Montgomerie, who intends to now take a break from golf due to ill health, said: “It was difficult. It was cold and windy and I’ve never been a fan of windy conditions but we did OK.
“The duties this week were full on.
“It is difficult to play and host and I haven’t been well. I’m going home and looking forward to taking a minimum of two months off.
“I have never done this in 40 years.
“I’m 61 and I haven’t had a rest since I was 21.
“I haven’t stopped so I’m looking forward to it.”
Aberdeen’s Scott Henderson was tied ninth on three-over after a final round of 75.
