James Busby misses the chance of his maiden Challenge Tour victory at the ECCO Tour Championship
James Busby failed to register his first Challenge Tour victory, when he lost to Alessandro Tadini on the third extra hole in the playoffs of the ECCO Tour Championship, hosted by Thomas Björn & Mercedes-Benz, on Saturday, August 18, 2012.
Busby carded a two-under par 70 in the final round at Stensballegaard Golf in Horsens, Denmark, to tie for the top spot at the end of 72 holes in regulation. As a result, he had to face Tadini in the sudden-death playoffs.
Overall, he played brilliantly throughout the week. It will not be wrong to say that he was a bit unlucky in the end, as his tee shot on the second extra hole stopped in a divot on the fairway.
As a result, he had to settle for a par in the end. The third extra hole witnessed him miss a difficult par putt, leading to a bogey. Meanwhile, Tadini parred the hole and recorded his fourth victory on the tour.
At the end of the tournament, Busby seemed disappointed with his performance and stated that he deserved a win after such a strong display of the game throughout the week.
“Obviously I’m disappointed, because I felt like I played well enough to win this week,” he said.
“But when I look back, I’m sure I’ll take a lot of confidence from how I played, because I know I’m good enough to win out here. He added: “I got a bit of bad luck in the play-off. …You need a bit of luck to win tournaments, and today wasn’t my day – but
I’m sure it’ll come soon enough”.
Despite the defeat in the playoffs, he managed to pocket £13,800 prize money and surged to the 32nd position in the Challenge Tour Order of Merit.
He now plans to make it to the top-20, which will earn him a spot in the European Tour season for 2013.
“My first target was to finish in the top 80 and stay on the Challenge Tour for next year,” he added. “I’ve achieved that now so it’s about trying to get into that top 20”.
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