Call it twin trouble because one set of twins is clearly not enough for the DP World Tour.
Heading into the final round of the Mallorca Golf Open, Rasmus and Nicolai Højgaard, the 21-year-old Danish twins who have won five times between them in the past three seasons, were placed in the top 15 and eyeing a chance to embellish the family account.
Instead it was the German rookie Yannik Paul, brother of Jeremy, who prevailed, his final round of 1-over-par 72 good enough to take advantage of a third-round 62 that transformed his weekend aspirations.
The 28-year-old went bogey-free through the middle 36 holes on the Son Muntaner Golf Club at the Arabella Resort. A 7-under 64 had secured his participation after the cut before a sensational 9-under 62 vaulted him into a share of the 54-hole lead.
Three birdies and three eagles in the first 11 holes on Saturday had offered the opportunity to card a 59, but he could only add seven pars, 24 hours after he had played the same stretch in 5-under.
"I couldn’t have dreamt of a better ending, so I’m over the moon.”
Yannik Paul
On Sunday it seemed as if he might waste another chance – the bigger one of winning for the first time on the DP World Tour.
He not only swapped four bogeys with three birdies in a lap that was always something of a grind, he also had to repel charges from Jazz Janewattananond, Ryan Fox, Paul Waring, Nicolai Von Dellingshausen and Marcus Armitage.
Armitage even held a two-shot lead late in the day until he played the last three holes in 4-over-par to drop out of the top five. Waring and Von Dellingshausen hung on to share second, one blow behind a winning 15-under 269 total, which Paul confirmed with a birdie at the last.
“I’m speechless, honestly, I’m just so happy,” the winner said. “My girlfriend and I, we worked a lot on my mental side and we were dreaming that she would be here for my first win, and she’s here now. It’s unbelievable.
“It was really hard today. My ball-striking was unbelievable all week. I hit it really close at the first couple of holes and couldn’t make any putts.
“Luckily none of the other guys really made a lot of putts. I couldn’t have dreamt of a better ending, so I’m over the moon.”
Yannik Paul, like his brother Jeremy who played on the Korn Ferry Tour last season, played for the University of Colorado and has enjoyed a consistent first year on Europe’s main tour.
He had finished top 30 in five of his six starts ahead of venturing to Mallorca and perhaps called on good memories of the Balearic Sea island.
It was 12 months ago that he finished second on the Spanish isle at Challenge Tour Grand Final to rubber-stamp his graduation to the top table. Now he has taken another, more significant, step in his career.
Matt Cooper