Tim Sluiter misses out the chance of a victory at the ALLIANZ Open de Lyon
A wayward tee shot on the third extra hole in the playoffs cost Tim Sluiter his first ever Challenge Tour victory, as he finished second at the ALLIANZ Open de Lyon, on Sunday, October 7, 2012.
Sluiter played amazingly well in the final round in regulation at Golf du Gouverneur and posted a sparkling eight-under par 63.
He got off to a perfect start by recording pars on each of the first two holes, and followed that by an amazing eagle on the third hole.
Thereafter, he added another three shots to his scorecard and reached the turn with a five-under par score. On the back nine of the course, he remained consistent.
He record four birdies against a lone bogey and finished second on the leaderboard.
At that time, Chris Doak was leading the scoreboard with one stroke, heading into the final hole of the tournament.
The Scot had a straight forward chance of recording a victory with a par putt on the 18th green. However, his ball slid past the cup and he settled for a bogey in the end.
As a result, Sluiter also moved ahead to share the top spot, leading the game to enter the playoffs.
During the sudden-death playoffs, both the players failed to take down each other on the first two extra holes and moved to the 18th tee for the fourth time on Sunday.
Thereafter, Sluiter’s wayward tee shot led him to strike a bogey, while Doak comfortably made a par putt to take home the first ever Challenge Tour title of his career.
Sluiter was really disappointed about missing out on the chance of recording the maiden victory of his career, especially when he received a golden opportunity in the form of the playoffs.
“I was happy to get into the play-off in the first place,” said the 23-year-old. “Well done to Chris, making three pars in the play-off, and I just got unlucky with the lie even though it was a very poor shot from the tee. I suppose tiredness came into it
but it was just nice to have a chance”.
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