Alexandre Kaleka shines at the M2M Russian Challenge Cup
Alexandre Kaleka was thrilled to end a challenging week on a high note after overhauling Alessandro Tadini, to claim his second Challenge Tour victory, at the M2M Russian Challenge Cup.
He finished on seven-under, having surpassed Tadini, who had held the lead at the beginning of the final round, to triumph by one stroke.
Kaleka started off his final round campaign at five-under par. He then tried to challenge the overnight leader by carding birdies on the fourth and seventh hole.
In the meantime, Tadini also birdied the fourth and fifth hole to retain the lead at the Tseleevo Golf & Polo Club. On the back nine, Kaleka took the control, after Tadini conceded bogeys on the 11th, 12th and 14th hole.
The 15th hole witnessed Kaleka suffer a double bogey and brought Tadini back in the game. According to the Frenchman, he drove the ball perfectly off the 15th tee. However, the wind took the ball away from the fairway.
He then used a three-wood and was unlucky to find the thick rough. He was forced to accept a one-stroke penalty. Afterwards, his iron shot took the ball onto the green and he two putted for two drop shots.
Yet, he managed to make a comeback with a birdie on the 17th hole, which confirmed his place on top of the leaderboard.
“I played well today,” he said. “Obviously when you are close to the lead you are thinking about things a lot but I hit a lot of good shots”.
“I struggled with a few of the first holes but then I just played solid. I thought I could go a bit lower and my goal was to get to ten under,” he continued. “I didn’t know how Tadini was playing because I didn’t look at the leaderboard but seven under was
enough thankfully”.
“This win seemed much easier than the last,” added the 25-year-old, whose last victory came at the ALLIANZ Open de Lyon in 2009.
With his second triumph on the tour, he moved to the fifth position in the Challenge Tour Rankings, which also confirmed his card for the 2013 European Tour season.
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