Fulke holds on for two shot victory

Sweden’s Pierre Fulke resisted the challenge of fellow countryman Henrik Nystrom to win the Scottish PGA Championship at Gleneagles on Sunday.

The pair virtually turned the event into a match-play contest with Nystrom making the early moves before errors towards the end of the day cost him the title. Fulke did not drop a stroke all day and was rewarded for his consistency with a £66,600 winners’ cheque.

Overnight leader by three, his final round of 70 was good enough for a two-shot victory as he finished on 17-under for the tournament, with Nystrom 15-under after his 69.

Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin finished third on 11-under.

It is the second time that Fulke has won a European Tour event after his success in last year’s Lancome Trophy as he took advantage of a weakened field due to the NEC Invitational in Ohio.

"It is very nice to win here even though it was not the strongest field - but it still means a lot to me," he said.

Nystrom made early inroads into his rival’s lead early on as he holed from 40 feet for an eagle three at the second and then birdied the ninth and tenth to move into a lead of his own.

Both players then birdied the 12th before Nystrom’s challenge began to crumble when he three-putted 13 for a double-bogey six and when he found the sand at the short 17th, he could do no better than a bogey four and victory was Fulke’s.

"The 13th was where my chance went," admitted Nystrom. "It was a silly mistake to make but overall it has been a good week for me."

Scottish hopes going into the final day rested on Paisley’s Alastair Forsyth, but the 24-year-old endured a torrid time. He double-bogeyed the 15th and dropped four other shots elsewhere for a disappointing 75 and a share of seventh place on 281.

Former Open champion Paul Lawrie finished strongly with a 68 for a four-under-par total of 284, but the 31-year-old Aberdonian was left to rue an untidy couple of rounds in the middle of the tournament.

"I was eight under par at the turn in my second round and then I played a series of loose shots, came home in 41 and then went out in 40 in my third round which was disappointing," he said.

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