Sweden's Carl Pettersson today won his first European Tour title in a sudden-death play-off with England's David Gilford in the Algarve Open de Portugal. Pettersson parred the first extra-hole to win the first prize of £76,462 and prevent the former Ryder Cup player from regaining the title he won, also in a play-off, in 1993. England's Greg Owen, Spain's Miguel Angel Martin and Swede Henrik Nystrom shared third place on one under par at Vale do Lobo, while Ireland's Des Smyth finished tied for 31st place on 5 over.
Pettersson and Gilford both found the 18th fairway in sudden-death, but after the Swede had fired a six-iron onto the putting surface, Gilford pulled his five-iron approach over the back of the green. The 36-year-old Englishman was left with a difficult shot from a heavy lie and could only pitch out to 25 feet, and when he missed the par putt Pettersson safely two-putted for victory.
High winds and bad weather reduced the event to 36 holes, with 75% of the original prize money awarded.
Filed by Shane Murray
