Elissalde snatches Egyptian trophy

Thomas Elissalde (c) Agathe Séron 2014

France’s Thomas Elissalde won his second Alps Tour title as he finish -9 at Red Sea El Ein Bay Open. In a very windy day, his compatriot Matthieu Pavon is one shot back. Frenchman Léo Lespinasse and Spain’s Juan Antonio Bragulat share third place with -6 total.

Elissalde is one of the 2014 Alps Tour graduates. He was leading since the first round and kept his hands on the trophy until the end.

“It was not windy this morning but in one blink of an eye, it became freezy with strong gusts. The temperature felt around 10° C and it was pretty much like home! Teeing of I just decided to try to do a good round, to be patient and to play my game.”

“I have been working hard this winter on technical points to hit the ball longer from the tee and I was really looking forward to testing it in a tournament to see if I was able to drive this way under pressure. It has worked. As the weather this winter in Biarritz was not that great , I focused on long game and fitness to improve tonic effect in my swing. I hit my driver longer. My irons are still the same but still, driving is important.”

“When I left the 15^th green, I saw that Matthieu was tie with me. Unfortunately, I hit a very poor shot on the 16^th and there was no chance that I did a par. I holed a nice putt for birdie on the 17^th, 5 meters and when I was walking the last fairway, I’ve seen that Mat was -8 so I played my wedge aiming the middle of the green to do par and win.”

“A win is a win and even if Alps Tour is not my circuit anymore, I felt pressure and I am happy I managed to deal with.”

Quotes Agathe Séron