Marco Penge held his nerve in a play-off to defeat fellow Englishman Daniel Brown and take the Spanish Open title in Madrid.
Penge held a four-shot lead over nearest challenger Joel Girrbach going into the ultimate spherical, whereas he was 5 photographs higher off than Brown.
Nonetheless, he solely had a one-shot benefit going to the 18th on Sunday after his lead was trimmed.
After Penge made par to complete with a one-over 72 for his closing spherical on the Membership de Campo, Brown sank a birdie putt for a 67 which pressured a play-off as each completed on 15 underneath.
On the first time of asking within the sudden-death play-off, Penge birdied the 18th with an eight-foot putt to safe a 3rd European Tour title of the season.
Penge’s victory in Spain additionally means he has robotically certified for the 154th Open at Royal Birkdale subsequent yr as properly on the Masters at Augusta.
“It was a wierd day for me,” stated Penge, who carded 66, 67 and 64 in his first three rounds.
“I had it in my head that {the golfing} gods have been form of in opposition to me in a manner. Dan and Joel performed nice, they have been holing putts and placing the stress on me.
“I simply could not get it within the gap. It felt like I used to be actually up in opposition to it, however I felt like I managed myself rather well.”
Penge was given a three-month ban in December 2024 for putting bets on a number of occasions, with one month suspended for a yr.
He has resumed his profession in effective trend and stated: “I believe tee to inexperienced I performed stable and it was only a matter of the putts – I believe I used all of them yesterday, however holing that one [on the play-off hole] was definitely worth the wait.”
Switzerland’s Girrbach completed with a 69 as he ended up in third place on 14 underneath.
Three-time champion Jon Rahm carded a closing 65, which included seven birdies and a bogey, because the Spaniard completed tied for ninth at his dwelling Open.
