Ireland’s Conor Purcell secured his second Challenge Tour title of the season when firing a final round 67 to win the Hangzhou Open in China by four shots on Sunday.
Spaniard Angel Ayora closed with a 69 to finish in a tie for second with England’s Jack Senior and Finland’s Oliver Lindell, while Zhou Yanhan emerged as the highest-placed Chinese player after signing for a 64 to finish in a share of fifth place.
Purcell entered the final round with a share of the lead and started his day with six straight pars. He then broke free from the chasing pack with a hat-trick of birdies starting from the par-three 7th at West Lake International Golf & Country Club.
Purcell then left the door open for his closest rivals to close in after dropping shots at 11 and 13. However, the 27-year-old ensured he would clinch the title comfortably as he charged home with three more birdies in his closing four holes for a winning total of 18-under-par.
“It’s an amazing feeling. Getting the first one was special in front of the home crowd. And I couldn’t have asked for a better second one with so many people watching in what has been an amazing event,” said Purcell, who won his maiden Challenge Tour title at the Black Desert NI Open in July.
NERVY START
“It was a nervous start, where I just made lots of pars before I got a few birdies towards the end of the front nine. I got a bit slow again on the back nine, made a few mistakes but got myself back in the mindset of making birdies and thankfully a few dropped.”
With his latest win in Hangzhou, Purcell jumped eight places to fourth on the Road to Mallorca Rankings where he is almost certain to seal his promotion to the DP World Tour with only the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final left to play.
“It’s nice to win one of the elevated events before the grand finals so that I can go over there and enjoy a little bit more,” he added.
John Parry currently leads the Challenge Tour rankings, with Dane’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and Hamish Brown in second and third place respectively.
The Challenge Tour Grand Final is being held at Alcanada in Mallorca from October 31-November 3.
For all the scores from the Hangzhou Open, click here.
