World No. 1 Kipp Popert held his nerve to claim a one-shot victory over Brendan Lawlor at the G4D Open on Saturday at Woburn (England) Golf Club.
The top two players on the World Ranking for Golfers with Disability had a final-day showdown in the sun over the Duchess Course, with Popert’s closing 2-over-par 74 securing a winning total of 1-over 217.
Popert, who has cerebral palsy, was edged out by Lawlor in last year’s inaugural championship, but this time the 25-year-old Englishman prevailed to secure a 10th G4D Tour title.
“It’s great to win,” Popert said. “I was playing well coming into this week, but I didn't really have my ‘A’ game the first day. It was nice to come out on top at the end of the week in the battle with Brendan.
“I thought I did a good job on the front nine today, and on the back I just tried to hit greens. I wanted to just keep it in play, what my coach has told me to do, hitting to 15 feet and such like. It goes against my instinct, to be honest, because I want to go as low as I can.
“I think what I was most pleased with was on the last hole. Again, I thought, I'm going to push this to 15 feet. I felt like the pressure was there, but I handled it.”
Ireland’s Lawlor, who has a rare condition called Ellis–van Creveld syndrome, put up a stout defence but was made to rue mistakes as he finished with a 4-over 76 for 218.
Canadian Chris Willis was third on 6-over 222, with Australians Wayne Perske and Lachlan Wood a stroke further back.
Lawlor, 27, held a one-shot lead overnight and doubled his advantage in the glorious conditions with a birdie at the opening hole. He found trouble on both par-3s on the front nine, taking double bogeys on the second and the seventh, allowing Popert to lead by one after his birdie on the eighth.
But Popert had difficulties of his own on the demanding par-4 ninth for a double bogey, with Lawlor also dropping a shot to leave them both at 1-over heading into the back nine.
Popert bounced back with birdie at the 10th, and when Lawlor posted consecutive bogeys, Popert went three clear. A bogey from the leader at the next and brilliant birdies from Lawlor at the 15th and 16th suddenly brought the duo back level, before the world No. 2 caught his approach shot heavy at the 17th, leading to bogey. Popert coolly holed from 2 feet for a winning par at the last.
“There was quite a lot of people, and I was just trying to focus,” Popert said. “I won the U.S. Adaptive Open last year with the USGA, so I've now got both at the same time. I’m pretty excited to get home and put them next to each other.”
“It’s a tough one, tough to take,” Lawlor said. “I went two ahead early on, but I just kept hitting ropey shots, just not usually what I do. When I went three behind on the 14th, I said, ‘Right, it's time to fight now.’
“I wanted to defend, wanted to try and win it. But unfortunately, I duffed my 9-iron on 17 and made bogey. I got some mud in my eye from the second shot, and it affected the putt, I would say. But Kipp did the business today. I had two doubles on par-3s, and that's inexcusable.
“It was amazing with the crowds all day long, it definitely gives an added pressure to what you're trying to do. But I think it's important for people to see what we do.”
Established last year, the championship – held in partnership between the R&A and the DP World Tour and supported by EDGA (formally the European Disabled Golf Association) – is one of the most inclusive ever staged.
The G4D Open featured nine sport classes across multiple impairment groups, with 80 male and female players of amateur and professional status, ages 15-68, representing 19 countries.
Success for van Houten
Dutch player Daphne van Houten, the leading female at 25th on the WR4GD, was crowned the women’s champion. Van Houten, 25, who suffers from scoliosis, finished 17 shots clear of England’s Aimi Bullock.
“It's been a long week, and coming here I’m happy I got the win in the end,” van Houten said. “I knew I needed to keep my cool, and I did. My short game didn't start well this week because the grass is just a little bit different than what I'm used to, but I got the hang of it today.
“I try to encourage other women to play golf, golfers with a disability or not. It's growing and growing and there is a little bit more competition, so that's really nice. It keeps me sharp. You can see people watching now and they are impressed with what we are doing. Hopefully more people come to watch and start to pick up a golf club.”
The men’s and women’s winners were presented with new trophies to reflect the multiple threads woven among the players on their journeys to compete in the G4D Open.
Sport class winners
A gross prize also was awarded in each sport class, covering various categories in Standing, Intellectual, Visual and Sitting.
The men’s gross prize winners were as follows:
Intellectual 1: Cameron Pollard, Australia
Intellectual 2: Thomas Blizzard, England
Standing 1: Juan Postigo Arce, Spain
Standing 2: Kipp Popert, England
Standing 3: Brendan Lawlor, Ireland
Sitting 1: Terry Kirby, England
Sitting 2: Richard Kluwen, The Netherlands
Visual 1: Paul O’Rahilly, Ireland
Visual 2: John Eakin, England
The women’s gross prize winners were as follows:
Intellectual 2: Erika Malmberg, Sweden
Standing 1: Alessandra Donati, Italy
Standing 2: Aimi Bullock, England
Standing 3: Daphne van Houten, The Netherlands
Highlights from the Championship will be aired on Sky Sports Golf from Monday 27 May at 5 p.m. BST and throughout that week.
The establishment of the G4D Open follows on from the inclusion of the Modified Rules of Golf for Players with Disability in the Rules of Golf and the R&A and USGA’s ongoing administration of the WR4GD.
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