England’s Ross McGowan, 38 ended an 11-year and 15-day winless drought in holing a 20-foot birdie putter in a last round 71 and win by a shot with a 20-under par tally and capture a first Tour title since his 2001 Madrid Open success.
McGowan had, for a second day running, eagled the par-5 sixth hole but the standout shot of his round was holing a greenside bunker shot for birdie at the par-4 16th.
After 11 years and 15 days, @RossMcGowan is a winner again on the European Tour 🏆#ItalianOpen pic.twitter.com/AxlaFd8VQQ
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) October 25, 2020
“My head is going full blast at the moment,” said McGowan.
“Obviously I’m very happy, not happy with the way I played particularly but I got the ball in the hole which in the past has been my nemesis, so it was nice to be able to do that this week.
“When I hit the bunker shot on 16, that came exactly how I saw it and it obviously went in and the putter has been good all week, so I felt like if I put it to six or eight foot at 18 I had a good chance of making birdie.
“To be honest, I wasn’t thinking about anything over that putt. I just looked at the hole, it was left edge, and obviously the rest is history.”
Fellow Englishman Laurie Canter, and who led the event for three rounds, signed for a disappointing last day level par 72 to share second at 19-under par with Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts who birdied two of his closing three holes in a score of 68.
Canter and McGowan had been tied for the third day lead on 19-under par but with both struggling and moreso Canter who bogeyed his seventh and eighth holes and also the 14th and 15th. Then in needing to birdie the last to force a play-off, his putt rolled by the rightside of the hole.
“It was horrible. The front nine, I actually felt like I played alright to be honest. I hit the ball nice for most of the day, but I was just exposed on the greens and around the greens. I just didn’t feel right, didn’t feel comfortable all day,” said Canter.
“I felt like I needed to get forward and then suddenly the bogey at five, I just got caught up in it. It’s disappointing”.
Colsaerts, who began his final round with a bogey and then watched-on as McGowan holed the winning putt, grabbed his best finish in five days over 12 months since victory in the 2019 French Open.
“I didn’t really make the ideal start, it was just a bit slow and I left a lot of putts short,” he said.
“I wasn’t really feeling that comfortable on the front nine, but then I figured if I made a blitz in I still would have had a chance.
“I made a few good putts in the last four or five holes to actually remain with a chance, but a wonderful way to finish from Ross so there’s no regrets at all.
“If I was quickly under par on the front nine, like three under, that would have been a nice step to build on, but it wasn’t the case and I had to dig deep. I was still proud with how I fought until the end.
“It’s always great when you have a chance, especially on one of the old tournaments we get to play, one of the national opens. I always felt like I left a little bit of meat on the bones at this one down the years so it would have been a great one to add but just not this time.”
