Horsfield holds his nerve at Hero Open to clinch first European Tour title

Ryan Benson

•
Horsfield holds his nerve at Hero Open to clinch first European Tour title image

Sam Horsfield held off Thomas Detry's final-day challenge at the Hero Open to claim his maiden European Tour title, finishing up on 18-under-par for the tournament. 

Despite sitting atop the leaderboard for each of the previous two days, Horsfield came into the final round in Birmingham having endured an alarming back nine on Saturday. 

But the Englishman hit a four-under 68 to finish a solitary shot clear of Detry, who had set the clubhouse target having gone around in 66. 

Horsfield settled any early nerves with two birdies in his first three holes, and although a bogey on the par-three fifth might have caused other players to wobble, he immediately responded. 

Back-to-back birdies followed and he would go over par just once more when dropping a shot at the 15th – only to claim it back on the penultimate hole. 

That left the 23-year-old knowing a par on the last would be enough to clinch the victory and he duly obliged, leaving him narrowly clear of Detry, whose bogey on hole 18 ultimately proved crucial. 

On a tense day at the top of the leaderboard, Joel Sjoholm was involved in a comical moment that would have surely alleviated the stresses of Horsfield and Detry for a moment. 

The Swede had to board a small boat to reach a wayward approach shot that landed on a small island in the middle of a water hazard on the 17th. 

He needed to move a pair of sponsorship signs just to reach the ball, which lay in thick rough right between two hefty tree trunks, and a bogey proved a commendable achievement in the end.

Ryan Benson