Golding's perseverance finally pays off at French Open
BY Bruce Young | European PGA Tour | 2003 Open de France | Wrap | 30 Jun 2003
Englishman Philip Golding, will never die wondering. In more than twenty years of trying he has finally won his first event on the European Tour with his one shot win at the French Open.
In more than 200 starts since making it to the European Tour for the first time officially in 1994, his best previous finish had been sixth at the 1996 Hohe Brucke Open. He had, however, been trying to gain access to the tour since 1983, when he first attempted to get his card and so this is a lesson to the many out there who at first do not succeed, to ’try, try, try again.’
His one shot win over David Howell was full of emotion. He made mention in the post round interview today that he thought often during the last round of the impact each birdie was having on his friends and family who were no doubt willing him on via television. For only the fifth time in the last twenty years, Golding’s November will not be focused on the rigours of qualifying school. He was later moved to jokingly say that he “might just turn up at the tour school just to watch.”
He began his round nervously today as you would perhaps expect with an early bogey, but steadied the ship with birdies at the sixth, ninth, thirteenth and fourteenth and although he bogeyed the sixteenth, he was able to birdie the par five eighteenth to hold out Howell, who recorded his best finish since last year’s Heineken Classic.
Peter O’Malley and Justin Rose tied for third, Rose’s last round 65, the best of the day and moving him from 23rd to third. This was O’Malley’s best finish on the European tour since he too ran second at the Heineken Classic last year.
Stephen Leaney was solid in his first event since his heroics at the US Open in Chicago to finish 15th, Stephen Scahill 23rd, Jarrod Moseley 30th, Peter Fowler 52nd and Greg Turner 60th.
