England’s Lee Slattery fought back from losing the overnight lead on the final day of the Moscow Open to claim his first European Tour title in four years.
The Cheshire-based golfer began the day, after a two-hour fog delay, with a two-shot advantage over playing partner Estanislao Goya and Scotland’s Craig Lee.
But despite an opening birdie by the sixth hole he trailed his Argentinian rival by one and that deficit had doubled by the 12th.
However, bogeys for Goya at 13 and 15 – either side of a birdie for Slattery – edged him ahead again.
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A chip-in at the 17th gave him an important two-shot cushion heading down the last as Goya birdied but Slattery’s 69 for a 14-under total was enough to secure his second European Tour win, the first coming at the 2011 Madrid Masters where he also led by two strokes heading into the final round.
“It has been a difficult year so it's just nice to be able to finish the year off like this, with a win, knowing that I can plan next year now and hopefully get myself going again to where I belong,” said Slattery, who is now likely to break into the world’s top 200.
“The thing that has been letting me down most has probably been my short game in the last few months so I’ve worked so hard at that and to chip one in at such an important time meant so much and it shows that practice pays off eventually.”
Goya’s 68 kept him just ahead of defending champion David Horsey, who also shot 68 to finish one ahead of a group on 12-under which inc-luded 2013 champion Michael Hoey after his 64.
