Bet on this tournament & other sports here

Coltart holds on for narrow victory

Andrew Coltart rebounded from a mid round slump to capture the second European Tour title of his career at the Great North Open on Sunday. The 31-year-old Scot carded an even-par 72 in the final round to win by one shot over fellow countryman Stephen Gallacher and English rookie Paul Casey.

"Obviously I feel pretty pleased," said Coltart, who won for the first time since his breakthrough triumph at the 1998 Qatar Masters. "It was kind of nerve-wracking and at times it wasn’t pretty out there at all, but I managed to grind it out and come through."

Coltart, the leader after three rounds, found himself two shots off the lead after bogeys on the eighth and ninth holes. He regained the top spot with three birdies on the back nine, and, with the help of late mistakes by his closest competitors, needed just a two-putt par from 30 feet to secure the victory with a total of 11-under-par 277.

Coltart was three shots clear of the field at the start of play Sunday at the De Vere Slaley Hall course. However, he hit only one fairway off the tee over front nine, with errant drives leading to back-to-back birdies before the turn to drop him two shots behind first-round leader Daren Lee of England.

Although birdies at the 11th and 12th pulled Coltart even with Lee at 11- under, Coltart dropped another shot at the 13th to join Gallacher, Casey and Welshman Bradley Dredge at minus-10. Lee soon made it a five-way tie when he missed the green at the par-three 17th, pitched to seven feet, then missed the putt to save par.

Lee's second shot to the 463-yard 18th landed behind the green and he took three more strokes to get down for a another bogey and a closing 70.

Meanwhile, Coltart sank a birdie putt at the 15th to move into sole possession of the lead. He was alone for just a short time, as Dredge, playing a group ahead, rolled in a seven-foot birdie putt for his share of 11-under par.

But Dredge pulled his tee shot into the rough at the long par-four home hole, forcing him to lay up with his second. After failing to hit the green with his third shot, Dredge chipped past the hole and two-putted for a double-bogey six.

Dredge finished with a 71, placing him in a tie for fourth at nine-under 279 with Lee and England's Steve Webster, who had a final-round 67.

With Gallacher and Casey already in the clubhouse at 10-under, Coltart needed a four at the last to reel in the win. His drive ran through the fairway but his six-iron approach from 190 yards stopped 30 feet right of the flag. He left his birdie attempt two feet short then nudged in the clinching par putt.

"It wasn’t much fun on that front nine but I knew there were still some birdie chances on the back nine so I just calmed down, gave myself a chance to regroup and started to hit some decent shots," said Coltart, who vaulted from 29th to 10th on the Order of Merit. "I’m proud of the way I handled myself and hopefully this is the springboard to future successes for me."

Coltart, one of Mark James' wild card picks for the 1999 European Ryder Cup team, helped his chances for automatically qualifying for the 2001 squad by moving from 17th to eighth place on the Ryder Cup points list.

Gallacher, the nephew of former Ryder Cup captain, Bernard Gallacher, turned in a 68, while Casey closed with a 69. Casey, who played his college golf at Arizona State, is guaranteed a tour card for the 2002 European Tour season with his runner-up finish this week.

Email this page to a friend | Return to top of page