Alessandro Tadini wins ECCO Tour Championship hosted by Thomas Björn & Mercedes-Benz
Alessandro Tadini parred the third extra hole in the sudden-death playoffs of the ECCO Tour Championship, hosted by Thomas Björn & Mercedes-Benz, to register the fourth European Challenge Tour victory of his career, on Saturday, August 18, 2012.
Tadini and James Busby entered the playoffs after posting rounds of 69 and 70, respectively. They also spoiled Kristoffer Broberg’s dream of completing a hat-trick of wins on the Challenge Tour, as he finished with an 11-under par 277 – one behind the playoff
duo.
Tadini got off to a confident start and recorded three birdies on the front nine, to get into contention for the top spot in the tournament. A birdie to start the back nine took him to the commanding seat.
However, he had to hand over the lead to Busby after he found the water hazard on the 15th hole, leading to his first bogey of the day. Busby’s wayward shot on the 18th allowed Tadini to play for the victory once again.
The Italian then prevailed, thanks to the par putt on the third extra hole, and ended his two-year title drought on the Challenge Tour.
According to him, his putting was great throughout the week and was the main factor in his sparkling performance in the tournament
“I’m very, very happy. I played fantastically well this week, especially on the greens. The greens here are very difficult, so my putting won me the tournament,” he said.
“I kept the same feeling from the final round last week in Norway, where I shot a 64 which gave me so confidence. My irons were also fantastic this week, probably the best I have hit for a long time”.
With this win, he also booked his place in the limited-field Rolex Trophy, scheduled next week. Moreover, he will also participate in next month’s Kazakhstan Open, one of the highly prized tournaments on the tour.
“Hopefully I can keep this feeling for the next few events and the rest of the season,” he said. “…hopefully I can now look to climb even higher in the Rankings”.
Broberg, in the meantime, shared the third position and surged to the fourth spot in the money list. He currently owns €69,280 prize money after making just four starts on the 2012 Challenge Tour season.
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