Scotland’s Euan Walker produced a sensational final round to win the Swiss Challenge after the tournament was reduced to 36 holes at Golf Saint Apollinaire.
Following a three-hour weather delay on Thursday and the entirety of play being washed out on Saturday due to a flooded course, Walker returned to the tee on Sunday to fire a bogey-free six under par final round and secure a dominant three stroke win in Folgensbourg.
Walker fired rounds of 69 and 66 to reach nine under par and finish two clear of Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan and Englishman Bradley Bawden, who shared second place on six under.
The Ayrshire man climbs to 21st on the Road to Mallorca rankings to move into promotion contention with four events remaining of the season and was delighted to secure a second Challenge Tour title after a testing 24 hours.
“It feels amazing,” he said. “Honestly, even though it’s a 36-hole event, it feels important. You get those feelings, pre-tournament, about whether you can compete with everyone else, so to have a stop-start week like this just amplifies those feelings. I’ve tried my best to keep refocussing and telling myself I can still do it, and I’m pleased that it’s worked.
“It feels like this week I’m back on track and playing close to my best. I really played beautifully. That’s one of the best rounds I’ve played all year.”
Walker began his second round from the tenth hole on Friday, and resumed on Sunday on the 13th hole, three shots off the lead. The 29-year-old cut that to one after making birdies at the 15th and 17th, before he added a third gain of the day at the first – his tenth – to join the leaders.
He continued that streak by making three more birdies in a four-hole stretch from the fourth to surge into the outright lead for the first time.
Walker now looks set to tee it up in the season-ending Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final in Mallorca for a third successive year and is hoping victory this week can spur him on to graduation.
“I feel like I’ve been playing well enough all year to make the Rolex Grand Final but I’ve not had a lot to show for it,” he said. “Before this week I was right on the borderline, still needing a good performance to make it to Mallorca, and I thought the two events in China might be my last two to do that. I’ve kept playing well but I’ve been slipping down the rankings, so to have a week like this is absolutely amazing.”
