In his four seasons on the DP World Tour, France’s Victor Perez had not established himself as one of the circuit’s top putters.
Sunday at the Dutch Open, he went a long way toward changing that reputation.
Perez sank four clutch birdie putts in his final six holes to complete a stunning playoff victory against New Zealand’s Ryan Fox at Bernardus Golf in Cromvoirt, Netherlands.
“There was a fair amount of fortune, I've got to be honest with myself, holing out those long putts in the playoff,” said Perez, who ranked 147th on tour in putts per round before posting his second career victory.
Trailing Fox by three strokes standing on the 17th tee, Perez appeared to be out of time. However, Fox, playing two groups ahead of Perez, made a double-bogey 7 on the closing hole, which he had played 2 under in three previous trips for the week. That opened the door for Perez. He holed a 35-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th to draw even, then parred the 18th to force a sudden-death playoff at 13-under 275.
Perez holed a 20-foot putt on the first playoff hole, a return to the 18th, to halve Fox with birdies. After they matched pars on a replay of the 18th, they returned again to the 18th. Perez holed another clutch birdie putt before the playoff shifted to the par-3 17th, where he holed a 40-footer to win.
"It’s almost impossible to predict what is going to happen in golf. Guys come out of nowhere and win tournaments, and guys take huge leads. You just have to focus on you and not look at the board ..."
Victor Perez
Perez had posted only one top-20 finish in nine previous starts on the U.S. and European tours this year and entered the week No. 161 in the Official World Golf Ranking. But the showdown with Fox came down to a de facto match-play event in the playoff, and Perez has some experience in golf’s one-on-one setting. He was a semifinalist of the 2021 WGC Match Play.
Perez, 29, played four seasons of college golf at New Mexico before he turned professional in 2015. He graduated from Europe’s Challenge Tour in 2018.
Perez also earned a spot at the Open Championship this summer alongside Fox and Poland’s Adrian Meronk, who finished third, via the Open Qualifying Series, which will offer a minimum of 46 spots into the 150th Open at St. Andrews’ Old Course.
The loss clouded what had been a phenomenal final round for Fox, who strode to the 18th tee at 6 under for the day and three strokes clear of the field. He chipped in for birdie at the par-4 11th, holed an 80-footer from off the green for eagle at the par-5 12th and then jarred a 46-foot birdie putt at the par-4 14th. Standing 6-under for the day and three strokes ahead, Fox found that his fortunes quickly changed at the par-5 18th. He drove right into a penalty area, missed the green, pitched into a bunker and then two-putted for double bogey.
Meanwhile, Perez focused not on what was happening ahead of him but rather the only thing that he could control: his own play.
“I just tried to focus on me all day,” he said. “That's all I can do, is try to keep a champion mindset and hit good shot after good shot.
“The chips were going to fall where they were going to fall. It’s almost impossible to predict what is going to happen in golf. Guys come out of nowhere and win tournaments, and guys take huge leads. You just have to focus on you and not look at the board, and I was just fortunate to fall on the right side today.”
Staff and Wire Reports