Lipsky outlasts the Storm to claim maiden European title

Phil Casey 07:12 08/09/2014
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Happy man: David Lipsky with the European Masters trophy.

    American David Lipsky, a mem­ber of the Asian Tour, won his first European Tour title after an extraordinary finish to the Omega European Masters in Switzerland.

    Lipsky almost holed his approach to the 18th hole to card a closing 65 and force a play-off with England’s Graeme Storm after the pair fin­ished tied on 18-under par at the European and Asian Tour co-sanc­tioned event at Crans-sur-Sierre.

    They returned to the 18th for the first extra hole and the contest appeared over when Storm’s drive missed the fairway and finished up against a wall, forcing the 2007 French Open champion to pitch out sideways.

    Lipsky had just 86 yards to the hole from a fairway bunker but did not even attempt to go for the green, a decision described as “heartless” by former European Tour player Wayne Riley, commentating for Sky Sports. However, Lipsky had the last laugh as he pitched to two feet and holed for the winning par after Storm missed from long range.

    American Brooks Koepka was tied for the lead with Storm until a bogey on the 17th, where his way­ward approach plugged in a green­side bunker. Koepka finished joint third alongside England’s Tyrrell Hatton, with Danny Willett and Tommy Fleetwood another shot back in fifth.

    Lipsky said: “It feels spectacular. I’ve put in a lot of hard work and have been playing well the last cou­ple of weeks and to put it all togeth­er this week is very special to me.”

    Asked by Riley why he chose to lay-up on the play-off hole, Lipsky added: “I was just debating in my head the worst-case possibilities and scenarios.

    “It was a tough shot to get it on the green from there and I had enough faith in my short game to lay it up and try and get up and down. It ended up working out.”

    The round of the day was Danny Willett’s 63, which left him on 16-under alongside Tommy Fleetwood.

    Remarkably, there was a second hole-in-one of the weekend at the 11th as France’s Romain Wattel found the hole. Storm had already won the prize of a BMW i8 sports car, but the manufacturer gener­ously allowed Wattel to choose one of its cars from the tented village at the course to drive for a year.

    Wattel, who went round in 65 to finish at 13-under, said: “I saw the crowd were celebrating but I didn’t know if that was because it was close, or in the hole. Then I real­ised, but I didn’t know if there was a prize.”

    Lipsky nearly outdid Wattel at the 331-yard par-four seventh but his three-wood from the tee came up just short of the pin.

    Recommended