Woodman wins Finale as Wootton seals Order of Merit
10/10/2016
Guy Woodman (Longball) fired rounds of 64, 68 and 69 to successfully defend the final event in the Virgin Atlantic PGA South Order of Merit - the Crisp Thinking PGA Farnham Finale.
His 15-under-par total of 201 earned him a handsome £2,500 first prize and Woodman admitted he had his putting to thank for victory.
“Yesterday’s golf was pretty good stuff, but today it was my putting that saved the day! I love this course and came here with a really good feeling about the place,” he said.
“Club manager Alasdair Hay, who I played with, made sure it was in its usual fantastic condition, and he and the team at Farnham should be congratulated for turning Farnham into a terrific experience for golfers.”
Woodman’s opening round of eight-under-par 64 on Thursday morning blew the field away, and when he followed it up with the afternoon second round of 68, he still led one of the strongest fields in the Virgin Atlantic PGA South Order of Merit series by no less than four shots.
On the Friday morning at the start of the third and final round, Woodman knew what he had to do, and opened with a birdie. Despite a double bogey at the second, last year’s winner of the PGA Farnham Finale stayed focused and calm, making two more birdies to be out in one-under to retain his lead.
A birdie at the 10th to go fourteen-under was followed by a string of pars until the 16th where Woodman made another birdie to reach fifteen-under.
Almost home and dry, he dropped a shot at the 17th but even though he now knew that his lead was down to one, he calmly made the 18th green in two mighty shots and two putted to win the Finale by two strokes.
“Despite that double bogey at the second this morning, I stayed in the moment and focused on winning. I’d also like to thank the man behind this event, Colin Brumpton, for his wonderful support, something we all appreciate a great deal,” added Woodman. ** Colin Brumpton, left, and Guy Woodman.
Edged into second spot on 203 despite their impressive closing rounds were Christopher Rodgers of Richings Park with a closing 66, and Billingbear Park’s Greg Blainey with a 67, and cheques for £1,250 each.
LeftHandedGolf@Silvermere’s Chris Gane shot 68 to finish in the next spot for £900 and a few more vital points in the closely contested Virgin Atlantic PGA South Order of Merit.
The final standings mean that while Adam Wootton’s title bid wasn’t threatened, the other two places for the PGA Play-Offs at Saunton in October are going to two of the region’s left handed stars, Chris Gane and the man pushing the PGA South Money List*** leader Richard Wallis hard right to the end, James Ablett from Lee-on-the-Solent.
Taking a well-deserved place alongside the top three from the Order of Merit stars will be Andy Raitt from St. George’s Hill, thanks to his impressive runner-up performance in the Titleist & FootJoy PGA Professional Championship back in July.
As the new Virgin Atlantic PGA South Order of Merit champion, Wootton had a few comments, saying: “I haven’t played Saunton, but I love links courses so I’m really looking forward to this one, especially after everything I’ve heard about it. The thing that’s made the difference this year has been my putting, and I’ve worked really hard at improving it.
“Making those two wins early on at the CK Group PGA Kent Open Championship at Prince’s and the PGA Southern Open Championship at East Sussex National made things a lot easier in terms of staying at the top of the Order of Merit, and it was great to play in the last event knowing I’d bagged the Virgin Atlantic PGA South Order of Merit title.”
