Matteo Delpodio misses out the chance of his maiden Challenge Tour victory
Matteo Delpodio missed out on the chance to secure his first European Challenge Tour victory. He lost to amateur Julien Brun with a one-stroke margin, at the ALLIANZ Golf Open Toulouse Metropol, on Sunday, September 23, 2012.
Delpodio got off to a stunning start in the tournament. He recorded a 65 in the opening round, followed by a 67 on day two at the Golf de Toulouse-Seilh.
However, he failed to keep the momentum going into the weekend, and posted back-to-back rounds of 70 on the last two days.
Heading into the final round on Sunday, the Italian was just one-stroke behind Brun and surged to share the lead with birdies on the fifth and the seventh hole.
However, bogeys on the 9th and the 12th hole dragged him out of the lead to the second position once again.
Standing on the 18th green, he had a chance of forcing the game to enter into the playoffs with a birdie putt.
However, he misjudged the putt by few centimetres. Consequently, the ball slid past the cup, allowing Brun to become the sixth player in the history of the tour to record a victory as an amateur.
“I gave it my best shot, which is all I could do,” he said. “I got off to a good start, which made a nice change. I made a few mistakes which could’ve been avoided, such as the three-putt for bogey on the 12th”.
Despite facing a defeat, he was pleased to remain in contention till the end of the tournament. He also praised the way Brun played in the tournament and held his nerves to take the title home.
“But I was really pleased with the way I picked up some shots coming in to put some pressure on Julien. Credit to him, because he played very well and deserved to win. Hopefully it will be my day soon,” he said.
Eddie Pepperell, in the meantime, failed to surge to the top of the leaderboard, despite carding eight birdies on the final day.
His round was ruined by a couple of double bogeys that came on the fourth and the eighth hole. Still, he managed to hold the third position on the leaderboard, with an 11-under par overall score.
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