Peter Whiteford misses out on a chance of winning the Ballantine’s Championship
Peter Whiteford missed out on a chance of recording the first European Tour victory of his career, after he lost to Brett Rumford in the first extra hole in the playoffs of the Ballantine’s Championship, on Sunday, April 28, 2013.
The European Tour event was being staged at the Blackstone Golf Club, offering €2,205,000 prize fund to the participants.
Right from the beginning of the tournament, Whiteford showed consistency in his game. He started off his campaign with a two-under par 70 in the opening round.
Thereafter, he posted back-to-back rounds of 69, to enter the final round with the shared second place on the leaderboard.
Meanwhile, when Alexander Noren faltered for a two-over par 74, Whiteford had a great chance to surge to the top of the leaderboard. However, his four birdie putts, against a lone bogey, were not enough to take the sole lead at the end of the fourth round
in regulation.
In fact, he was trailing Rumford by two strokes, at the end of the 16th hole. It was Rumford who conceded a double bogey on the 17th hole, which allowed Whiteford and Marcus Fraser to contend for the championship in the sudden-death playoffs.
On the first extra hole, both Whiteford and Fraser recorded birdie putts and waited for Rumford to complete his turn. Rumford turned in the ball for an amazing eagle to clinch the victory.
It was a frustrating moment for Whiteford, as he said that he really worked hard in the tournament. At the same time, he was also happy to perform well after a very long time, as this was his first top-10 finish since August, 2012.
“I'm sure once it's all settled it will be a great week,” he said. “Probably made just enough to keep my card now - I know that's not what I should be thinking about, but I’ve done that and can press on for the rest of the season”.
“Guys like me don't get many chances to win tournaments, and whatever it was, four or five feet, hit a decent putt and didn't go in. But to be fair, at least we got beat by a three on the last and didn't throw it away - Brett deserves it in the play-off
there,” he added.
Tags: