Connor Syme won his maiden DP World Tour title as he saw off playing partner Joakim Lagergren by two shots at the KLM Open.
South Africa’s Jayden Schaper finished third at four under after a final round of 69.
The 29-year-old Scot was always in control on Sunday at The International in Amsterdam as he closed out a breakthrough win in his 182nd appearance on the DP World Tour.
“Unbelievable,” he said. “It was so, so difficult the last few days. I just felt so much better this week, I felt really ready to do it, and I’m so, so happy I managed to do it.”
With Syme starting the day two shots ahead of Lagergren with the rest of the field a further four back, it came down to almost a match play battle between the pair – even as a weather-related rescheduling left them playing in a three-ball with Francesco Laporta.
Syme struck first with a birdie at the 2nd, hitting his approach to four feet.
Lagergren responded with a 15-foot putt at the 7th but gave the shot back after finding sand beside the 9th green.
Both players birdied the 13th, Syme holing from 15 feet and Lagergren matching his score, but the Scot dropped a shot at the next – his first bogey in 33 holes, since the 16th on Friday – to cut his lead back to two.
Lagergren missed the 15th green and though he almost salvaged par with a brilliant chip that brushed the edge of the hole, a shot slipped away. Syme had a birdie chance from around 10 feet and though the putt died off to the left, his lead was three with three holes to play.
Lagergren hit an excellent approach into the 16th but had to settle for a par, with Syme making a superb up-and-down to match his score.
Another nerveless par at the 17th, as Lagergren dropped a shot, gave Syme a four-shot lead to take up the last and after all three players hit their tee-shots within two feet of each other in the fairway, Syme calmly hit two more shots to the front of the green.
Lagergren sent a Hail Mary fairway wood right over the pin and holed a fine eagle putt to finish nine under but Syme two-putted from 70 feet to join the likes of Colin Mongomerie, Gordon Brand Jr and Ken Brown as Scottish winners of the KLM Open.
After a champagne shower from another compatriot, Ewen Ferguson, and an embrace from wife Alanis who had flown in to surprise him, Syme said: “Every part of my team is so, so important, I’ve been playing on them. Different shots I’ve played as a kid, that was the kind of feeling it was today and just everyone helped so much.
“I’m buzzing I’ve done it with Ryan [McGuigan] on the bag as well, I’m just overjoyed.”
Ferguson, Calum Hill and England’s Richard Mansell were among the close friends greenside to celebrate with Syme, who also got congratulations from honorary tournament director and footballing great Ruud Gullit.
“It’s so, so nice they stuck around,” he said. “I’ve obviously been really pleased for them and I’m really happy to have joined them and won myself, so just amazing. Amazing.”
Syme is the 12th different first-time winner on this season’s DP World Tour and he said: “I suppose you don’t really know you can actually do it until you have done it.
“I mentioned a few times that I hadn’t won, to my caddie Ryan especially, and he’s like ‘You have won, you’ve won plenty of times as an amateur and you’ve won on the [HotelPlanner] Tour’. So I definitely know I can do it but it’s obviously doing it on this stage.
“You can see by some of the talent that’s come off the [HotelPlanner)] Tour this year, it’s amazing, we’re all very, very good and obviously I’m delighted to add my name to that, one of now 12 first-time winners – it’s absolutely awesome, amazing.”
Ferguson had his own champagne moment earlier in the day with a hole-in-one at the 7th, helping him to a 67 and a share of fourth place on three under with fellow Scot Richie Ramsay and England’s Jack Senior.
Laporta bogeyed the last after finding sand and then water to drop to two under, level with last week’s Austrian Alpine Open presented by SalzburgerLand champion Nicolai von Dellingshausen as well as Spanish pair Jorge Campillo and Manuel Elvira and Englishmen Andy Sullivan and Dan Bradbury.
Daan Huizing took the honours as the leading Dutchman in his home Open at level par, one of only 25 players to finish level or better.
– Edited report from DP World Tour website
Photo: Tom Dulat/Getty Images
