McCarroll's surprise in Casino' Sanremo Open

Ireland’s Brendan McCarroll (picture Carlo Torchio) made the joke of the day. He fired a 62-7-under-par to steal the trophy from overnight leaders with -8 total. Swiss Jon Andrea Noder despite his missing putt to go into a play-off, signed for his best results ever and finished second tie with Italy’s Alberto Campanile.

Greens of Sanremo golf course are small and rough nearby is dense and in addition the sea wind invited itself for last round. These elements were perfect to made a tasty recipe. To announce this special day that everything could happened, France’s Nicolas Mourlon signed for 62 early in the morning. He made the perfect day, did not drop any shot. Birdies started to fly high and no one could predict who would cut the ribbon first.

McCarroll whose putter lighted greens chose risky strategy. “I drove so well that I decided to play aggressive. During first round I had nightmares around greens, I could not chip well. But today it is ok. I just play my game and it works”. For sure the player from Derry was relax. He and his playing partner Jason Kelly shared jokes and it looked much alike a practice round than a round for victory. McCarroll, as grand finale of the day, drove the 18^th green in laughs. He missed the eagle putt but holed for birdie. At this moment, he had won his second title in 2 weeks without knowing it.

Last group players are usually expected to be on top of the leaderboard. Swiss Jon Andrea Noder made an amazing start with 3 birdies in a row. But did not succeeded in keeping advantage. The turn of the match was the 15^th green. “I did not feel pressure during this round. I started well but I dropped shots almost each time I holed for birdie. I regret two things. First on the 15^th green I had 3 putts and on last green, I stayed short in line to go into a play-off. But I have to remember all the good things this week for next tournament.”

With this win Brendan McCarroll takes second place at Alps Tour order of merit.

From Sanremo
Agathe Séron