Adrien Saddier claimed a maiden DP World Tour title with a two-shot win at the Italian Open.
Making his 200th appearance on the tour, the 33-year-old Frenchman lost ground on the front nine after following up a birdie at the second with bogeys at the fourth and eighth.
However, he really found his stride on the back nine, where a run of four birdies in five holes from the 10th saw him climb to the top of the leaderboard.
“It was a wait. It was a long time to finally have the trophy in my hands,” Saddier said.
“But sometimes you have to work hard and go through dark moments, you have to appreciate the journey.”
Saddier then made another gain on the 16th to open up a three-shot advantage and parred the last two holes to card a four-under 66 and mark his landmark appearance in the best possible way.
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He finished on 14 under par, two shots ahead of his countryman Martin Couvra, who had taken a one-shot lead in the closing round.
Couvra had four birdies along with three bogeys on Sunday en route to a final-round 69.
Scotland’s Calum Hill and England’s Dan Bradbury shared third on 10 under par, while France’s Clement Sordet and Germany’s Nicolai von Dellingshausen finished joint fifth a further shot back.
What’s next?
The Open – the final men’s major of the year – is then held from July 17-20, with extended live coverage from all seven days of tournament week exclusively live on Sky Sports. Coverage of the opening round starts on Thursday July 17 from 6.30am. Not got Sky? Stream the majors and more with no contract.
