Shave leaves rivals in a lather at Little Aston

Leicestershire’s Craig Shave made sure of his return to the Titleist & FootJoy PGA Professional Championship final after winning the Midlands qualifier at Little Aston Golf Club.

Shave, the 2012 runner-up, finished top of the leaderboard after carding a three under par round of  69 to win by one shot ahead of Welshman Owen Evans  (PT Golf) in difficult conditions at the Birmingham venue.

The Whetstone Golf Club professional had to qualify this year after finishing outside the top 20 in the final held at Burnham & Berrows last year.

But Shave’s experience saw him head the field even though he admitted the event was far from comfortable due to the weather.

Shave will now join 14 other qualifiers at the £78,000 showpiece final being held The Oxfordshire course between July 26-29.

“It was good to win the event but I couldn’t take anything for granted,” he said.

“I had my dad caddying for me so he made sure I was able to keep dry and concentrate on my game.

“I had been consistently finishing in the top 20 over the last few years which meant I was exempt from qualifying. But I slipped out of there last year so I needed to qualify and I was happy to get through.

“I three putted at the 15th but I was able to make four birdies and I always thought level par would be enough to qualify.”

Shave has missed out on PGA Cup teams by the narrowest of margins in the past but says he is only aiming for another strong finish at The Oxfordshire.

“It’d be good to get into the PGA Cup one year but now I just want to play well in the final,” he said.

“I enjoyed playing at the Little Aston course, it’s a good venue and popular with Midlands pros”.

There was a three way tie for third spot with Philip Hoye  (Stonebridge Golf Club),  Andrew Willey  (Bulwell Forest Golf Club) and James Whatley  (Morley Hayes Golf Club) all recording one under par rounds of 71.