Frenchman Gregory Havret emerged triumphant at Loch Lomond, the final tune-up before the British Open, by defeating Phil Mickelson in a sudden-death play-off and winning the Scottish Open.
With Ernie Els and Luke Donald finishing strongly but unable to challenge, world number three Mickelson and Havret took up the mantle. Havret eventually drained the par putt on the first extra hole to win the 500,000-pound first prize.
Havret and Mickelson finished on 14-under-par for the tournament and the Frenchman’s victory earns him qualification for the Open at Carnoustie, which gets underway on Thursday.
The two leaders had earlier battled each other over the final holes on the fourth day with Havret closing with a 68 and Mickelson recording 69.
Els shot a fine 65, which will give him loads of confidence ahead of the Open while Donald had an even better 64.
One player who will not be turning up at Carnoustie is Spanish great Seve Ballesteros, who announced his retirement from the sport on Monday.
Ballesteros, 50, admitted during a press conference that the decision to retire was difficult but he felt he was doing the right thing.
The five-times Major winner, who claimed three Open titles and three Masters green jackets and also captained Europe to Ryder Cup glory, was quoted as saying on the European Tour site:
“I have to say that golf gave me so much over the years that it’s really hard to give back, even 25 per cent of how much I got. It really gave me not only the pleasure of competing and enjoying the competition and feel the glory of winning, it give me the chance of travelling around the world, meeting people through dinners, cocktails and playing in pro ams, and it give me the great feeling of the people who really show me the understanding and the appreciation of what I have done in the game of golf.â€
