It has been a year of new names on the European Tour and the latest one is French. Gregory Bourdy became the 18th first-time winner on the Tour this season when he triumphed at the Mallorca Classic.
The 25-year-old shot a closing round of 67 to finish on 12-under-par 268 for a two-stroke victory over England’s Sam Little, who also scored 67 on Sunday. Robert-Jan Derksen, of the Netherlands, came home in third place on 271.
Bourdy had only one previous international victory, at the 2006 South African PGA Championship, which is part of the Sunshine Tour. He said on the Tour’s website:
“To get my first win on Tour feels absolutely fantastic. I had a great day out there and this is just unbelievable.â€
His victory and the 333,330-euro first prize means Bourdy has qualified to take part in next week’s Volvo Masters at Valderrama, the final tournament of the 2007 season.
The Masters is shaping up to give the Tour an excellent finale, with South African Ernie Els hoping to finish top of the Order of Merit.
Else has €2,496.237 so far this season but Ireland’s British Open winner and defending European number one Padraig Harrington, England’s Justin Rose and Swedes Niclas Fasth and Henrik Stenson are all in a position to steal the title away.
The Volvo Masters is open to the top 60 on the European Tour along with past. That means, the field will include defending champion Jeev Milkha Singh, of India, Paul McGinley, Ian Poulter, Miguel Angel Jiminez, Alex Cejka, Colin Montgomerie, Sandy Lyle and Ronan Rafferty.
Although it is the final tournament of the season, there will be no break for the hard-working tour pros with the 2008 season starting the very next week in Asia.