A chaotic final round in the Mallorca Golf Open concluded with Yannik Paul securing the biggest win of his career in a dramatic finish as, with the very last shot of his round, he holed a birdie putt from off the green.
The putt never looked like going anywhere else as it left the face of the putter, as he clinched the title at Son Muntander Golf Club by one shot from England’s Paul Waring and compatriot, Nicolai Von Dellingshausen.
The German began the day in a share of the lead alongside Ryan Fox. However, the drama unfolded rapidly after new leader, Marcus Armitage, dropped one shot on the 16th and doubled the 17th to take him back to 13-under.
This now meant there was a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard, with two players being joint clubhouse leaders and Paul needing to birdie the last to win the tournament.
After carding a 62 yesterday, Paul put himself in a great position to achieve his first professional title. The 28 year-old grinded his way through the last round having bogeyed the 1st and 7th, before a birdie at the 9th left him one-over at the turn. A birdie at the 11th got him back to level, but back-to-back bogeys saw him briefly fall away from the leader. Due to Armitage’s troubles, the door opened again for Paul and his birdie putt on the last sealed the deal for the victor.
"It's a dream come true." 🎙️An emotional @YannikPaul on his first Tour win in Mallorca.#MallorcaGolfOpen pic.twitter.com/EzKlx99VkOOctober 23, 2022
“It was really hard today. My ball-striking was unbelievable all week. I hit it close the first few holes but couldn't make the putts. It was really hard to stay in the moment. I saw after nine holes I had a one shot lead, Marcus hit a great shot on 15 and holed a great putt so now it was two shots away.
"Unfortunately, Marcus hit a couple of bad shots, but yeah, I couldn't have dreamed of a better ending. I’m over the moon. Ollie did an amazing job on the bag and we just fought till the end. To finish like this is a dream come true and I couldn't think of anything better.”
The win means Paul moves up to 22nd in the DP World Tour Rankings which will help boost his chances to be a part of the DP World Tour Championship next month. An outstanding achievement in his rookie season on Tour.
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