Tom Haylock romped to victory in The Stoke by Nayland Championship 2009, shooting a final round 65 to win by eight strokes at 16 under.
Haylock (Ground Construction Ltd) began the day tied for the lead at nine under and followed a solid level opening three holes with birdies at four, six and eight to move to 12 under.
He showed no signs of nerves on the back nine either; with four more birdies seeing him shoot 65 for a comprehensive victory.
His victory matches Antonio Sobrinho’s eight shot win in 2003 as the biggest margin of victory in the Tour’s history, and takes Haylock into fourth spot on the Order of Merit. Chris Gaunt endured a topsy-turvy round that eventually saw him rather fall into second place.
The Australian parred just four holes in his final round and a bogey at the last saw him finish on level par for the day, eight under for the tournament.
It appeared that had ruined Gaunt’s chances of sole possession of runners-up spot, but James Ruebotham (Welwyn Garden City GC) – who began the day tied for the lead with Haylock – never got of the traps and found himself at eight under for the tournament at the last, where he dropped a shot to finish in a five-way tie for third.
Jamie Moul (Stoke by Nayland) shot a two under 70 to join Ruebotham in third, along with Scott Jamieson, Matthew Ford (Marriot Tudor Park) and Nicky Harris (Whitefield GC) who won at Stoke by Nayland last year and follows his runners-up finish at Bovey Castle with a third place in Suffolk.
Steve Surry (Cumberwell Park) was one stroke behind overnight after a blistering nine under 63 in his second round, but it was a frustrating day for the 27 year-old, who was level until dropping a shot at the eighth and a double bogey at 13 prevented him from finishing higher than tied eighth, along with Mark Kerr (Golf Fit Ltd/Bathgate GC) and Elliot Saltman (Aegon) who carded a final round of 68.
02 July, 2009