John Catlin of Sacramento didn’t make a birdie in the final round, but still claimed his first European Tour victory, beating two-time major champion Martin Kaymer of Germany by one stroke in the Estrella Damm Andalucia Masters at Valderrama Golf Club in Sotogrande, Spain.
Catlin became the first American to win at Valderrama since Tiger Woods in 1999.
The 29-year-old Catlin, who had a two-stroke lead entering the final round, was tied for the lead with Kaymer going to the final hole and made a two-putt par after the German missed the green and left his chip shot for par short of the hole.
“I think it’s still kind of setting in,” Catlin, who has won eight times around the world as a pro, told Sky Sports. “The nerves were going nuts the whole round. This is a very difficult golf course, the greens were firm and fast and the wind was no easier than it had been the previous three days.
“I don’t think it’s quite sunk in that I’ve finally actually won, but that was my goal at the start of 2019 to win on the European Tour, so to have actually accomplished that is pretty hard to put into words.”
Catlin, who played college golf at New Mexico, posted a winning score of 69-70-72-75—286, while Kaymer finished at 72-72-69-74—287, and Wil Blesssing of the Netherlands shot 75-72-69-72—288 to tie for third with Justin Harding of South Africa, who finished at 71-75-71-71—288, and Antoine Rozner of France, who wound up at 76-69-73-70—288.
Guido Migliozzi of Italy carded a score of 69-74-74-72—289 to tie for sixth with Wilco Nienaber of South Africa, who finished at 72-70-76-71—289, while Masahiro Kawamura of Japan totaled 73-73-74-71—291 to tie for eighth with Connor Syme of Scotland, who came in at 73-73-74-71—291.
Johannes Veerman of Sugar Land, Texas, shot 73-73-72-74—292 to finish in a big tie for 10th with Lee Westwood of England (76-73-76-67—292), Jamie Donaldson of Wales (72-69-73-78—292), Steven Brown of England (73-74-74-71—292), Lorenzo Gagli of Italy (74-69-71-78—292), David Horsey of England (74-73-72-73—292), and Sami Valimaki of Finland (77-69-69-77—292).
For complete results, visit https://www.europeantour.com/european-tour/estrella-damm-n-a-andalucia-masters/results?round=4
