Daniel Gavins overturns seven-shot deficit to claim first Tour title in Ballymena

Thailand’s Pajaree Anannarukarn wins women’s event after a playoff


England's Daniel Gavins overturned a seven-shot deficit to claim his first European Tour title in the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Ballymena.

Gavins carded a bogey-free final round of 65 at Galgorm Castle to set the clubhouse target of 13 under par that no one was able to match.

Compatriot David Horsey held a share of the lead until losing a ball on the 18th following a wild tee shot, while New Zealand's Daniel Hillier had been 13 under before dropping shots on the 16th and 17th.

“I can’t believe it,” Gavins told Sky Sports. “I was seven behind going into the final round. I’m speechless. I don’t really know what to say.

READ MORE

“I just tried to shoot as low as I could. Seven behind I didn’t really think I had a chance of winning so maybe there was a bit less pressure there.

“I’ve been playing well but I was going to have the week off because I knew there were a lot of Challenge Tour events coming up so I thought a week off maybe and then play the rest of the Challenge Tour.

“I just can’t believe it. I think it will take a while to sink in.”

Overnight leader Jordan Smith reached 17 under par with birdies on the second and fourth, but ran up a triple bogey on the sixth after attempting a risky recovery shot from the base of a tree but hitting a root before the ball and seeing it ricochet backwards into his own caddie and bag.

In the women's event, Thailand's Pajaree Anannarukarn overcame her own triple bogey on the sixth hole to beat American Emma Talley on the second hole of a playoff.

The pair had begun the day tied for the lead with Jennifer Kupcho and the same trio reached the 18th tee locked together on 16 under par, only for Kupcho to make a costly bogey after pulling her approach into the water.

Both players made par on the first extra hole and another on the second was enough for Anannarukarn to secure her first LPGA Tour title after Talley missed the green with a badly mis-hit approach.

“Honestly I’m just speechless,” Anannarukarn said after a final round of 70. “I was nervous but actually surprised at how I handled my nervous there. To win here is a special memory.”

Men’s final scores

British and Irish unless stated

267 Daniel Gavins 71 65 66 65

268 David Horsey 67 65 64 72

269 Daniel Hillier (Nzl) 67 62 70 70, Jordan Smith 62 68 65 74, Masahiro Kawamura (Jpn) 65 69 66 69, Alejandro Canizares (Esp) 66 68 68 67

270 Justin Harding (Rsa) 70 64 67 69, John Catlin (USA) 69 66 67 68, Darius van Driel (Ned) 70 65 65 70, Hugo Leon (Chi) 67 73 65 65

271 Vincent Norrman (Swe) 69 65 67 70, Oliver Farr 67 68 67 69, Dale Whitnell 67 69 68 67, Jacques Kruyswijk (Rsa) 67 69 68 67

272 David Law 67 69 67 69, Ashley Chesters 68 70 68 66, Garrick Porteous 68 64 71 69, Santiago Tarrio (Esp) 70 67 68 67

273 Matthias Schmid (Ger) 64 69 72 68, Dermot McElroy 72 66 68 67, Paul Peterson (USA) 69 69 66 69

274 Eddie Pepperell 66 67 73 68, Blake Windred (Aus) 69 70 64 71, Ignacio Elvira (Esp) 66 67 70 71, Jack Senior 68 66 72 68

275 Alexander Levy (Fra) 69 69 66 71, Tom McKibbin 67 69 69 70, Maverick Antcliff (Aus) 68 70 68 69, Jordan Wrisdale 69 67 70 69

276 Shubhankar Sharma (Ind) 70 69 67 70, Marcus Armitage 71 67 68 70

277 Lucas Bjerregaard (Den) 69 68 68 72, David Drysdale 64 70 72 71, Francesco Laporta (Ita) 69 69 68 71, Connor Syme 72 66 68 71, Max Schmitt (Ger) 66 73 64 74, Ben Evans 70 66 70 71

278 Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind) 72 67 67 72

280 Richard McEvoy 68 69 67 76, Adrien Saddier (Fra) 69 66 71 74

282 Robin Sciot-Siegrist (Fra) 69 70 67 76

Women’s final scores

British and Irish unless stated

275 Pajaree Anannarukarn (Tha) 70 69 66 70 (Anannarukarn won on second playoff hole), 275 Emma Talley (USA) 67 65 73 70

276 Jennifer Kupcho (USA) 66 69 70 71

278 Atthaya Thitikul (Tha) 71 67 70 70

279 Chella Choi (Kor) 66 69 71 73, Mina Harigae (USA) 69 69 72 69, Sydnee Michaels (USA) 73 69 70 67

280 Pernilla Lindberg (Swe) 73 66 75 66, Sarah Kemp (Aus) 70 71 69 70, Wichanee Meechai (Tha) 70 72 67 71

281 Su-Hyun Oh (Aus) 68 72 69 72, Yu Liu (Chn) 75 70 68 68, Muni He (Chn) 71 69 72 69

282 Georgia Hall 68 73 71 70, Ryann O'Toole (USA) 72 68 70 72, Yealimi Noh (USA) 73 70 68 71

283 Olivia Mehaffey 70 72 71 70, Gemma Dryburgh 66 70 75 72, Charley Hull 68 68 74 73, Alison Lee (USA) 73 70 70 70, Paula Reto (Rsa) 74 71 67 71, Lauren Coughlin (USA) 72 73 69 69, Min-Seo Kwak (Kor) 67 70 75 71, Elizabeth Nagel (USA) 75 68 67 73

284 Karolin Lampert (Ger) 70 72 72 70, Lina Boqvist (Swe) 72 72 68 72, Ursula Wikstroem (Fin) 70 70 71 73, Lindsey Weaver (USA) 72 69 71 72, Alana Uriell (USA) 70 73 69 72

285 Pornanong Phatlum (Tha) 68 71 72 74, Lindy Duncan (USA) 73 72 68 72

286 Dottie Ardina (Phi) 72 69 72 73, Katherine Perry (USA) 74 69 71 72

287 Esther Henseleit (Ger) 70 73 71 73, Stephanie Kyriacou (Aus) 70 72 72 73, Linnea Stroem (Swe) 70 70 72 75

288 Johanna Gustavsson (Swe) 72 69 73 74, Kristen Gillman (USA) 72 69 72 75

289 Cloe Frankish 72 73 68 76

291 Tiia Koivisto (Fin) 71 71 71 78