Sam Little lifts third Challenge Tour title, the M2M Russian Challenge after seven years
Sam Little worked his way up the leaderboard on the final day to clinch his first title on the Challenge Tour for the season at the M2M Russian Challenge Cup. Little finished for an aggregate of 11-under, 277, to lift his third Challenge Tour title, finishing
one stroke clear of rampaging countryman, Andrew Johnston, by one shot.
Johnston pulled in spectacular birdies on the last four holes to push himself into contention for the top slot. Little had already closed his round with 11-under and was two shots better than the field.
Little said, “It feels fantastic. I played really well today – in fact, I’ve played really well all week, except for my first four holes. At that point I was thinking about catching an early flight home, but I turned it around and couldn’t be happier. I’ve
come close to winning a couple of times on the main Tour but it’s been a while since I last won on the Challenge Tour, so I had wondered if I still had it in me.”
The nail-biting showdown continued all the way until the final hole, where Little birdied the 18th to edge past rookie, Johnston, who displayed amazing composure to stay in contention until the last moment.
Little, who has been playing on the challenge Tour for a long time, has been lurking in obscurity and has not won a single title in the last seven years. He stepped into the final round, trailing the leader by a whooping four shots, but managed a splendid
final round to lift the title with a closing round of 68.
Little admitted that he struck form early in the day when he started off with a birdie on the first hole and found excellent approach shots on his front nine. He also said that he had a great bunker shot which enabled him to go up and down the course without
having much to worry about. Little earned a winner’s prize share of € 40,000 and has now moved to number six on the Challenge Tour Rankings from his previous position of 43.
Johnston, a rookie on the Challenge Tour, earned a respectable €27,500 and will now be hoping to barge into the mainstream European Tour in the next season along with Little. Three players finished for a joint third including Swede Pelle Edberg, Englishmen
Andrew Marshall and Sam Walker.
Tags: