David GonzalezFrederik Kjettrup wins the English Trophy after a week that began with an invitation and ended with a 30-foot downhill birdie putt on the 72nd hole.
The Dane closed with a five-under-par 67 at The Caversham to reach 21 under, one clear of Ronan Kleu, and turned what had been a sparse HotelPlanner Tour season into something altogether more useful.
One putt changed the shape of Kjettrup’s season
There are tidier ways to win a golf tournament. Kjettrup chose the memorable one.
His approach to the 18th left him with what he called a “nasty putt”, travelling up over a slope and then back down. A two-putt would have meant a play-off. Instead, the 26-year-old rolled it in to claim his first HotelPlanner Tour title.
“I don’t think it’s quite settled in yet,” he said. “It was a weird finish, making a 30-foot slider downhill to win it by one on the last hole but it feels amazing.”
The consequence extends well beyond a trophy and a pleasant Sunday evening in Reading. Kjettrup jumps to 15th on the Road to Mallorca Rankings and earns places in the Open De Portugal and Abu Dhabi Challenge, while putting himself into the season-ending play-offs in China.
For a player who had made one cut all season before this week, that is quite a change of itinerary.
The front nine offered little warning
Kjettrup began the final round with the lead after rounds of 68, 65 and 67, but the first nine holes were more survival than procession. He bogeyed the second, recovered the shot at the par-five seventh and turned in level par as the leading group remained tightly packed.
“I played poorly on the front nine, to be honest. It was frustrating for sure, but I was proud of how I just kept doing my thing and stayed in there and eventually got back in the fight.”
The fight arrived quickly. Three consecutive birdies after the turn dragged him back towards the top, and another birdie at the final par five left him one behind clubhouse leader Kleu.
A bogey at 16 almost handed Kleu the title
Then came the wobble. Kjettrup bogeyed the par-four 16th, apparently giving Kleu the advantage at precisely the wrong time.
His response was better than the mistake.
Knowing he needed to attack, Kjettrup went at the tucked pin on the par-three 17th and hit his tee shot to a foot. The birdie restored the possibility of winning outright and set up the final-hole drama.
“I just went for it. It kind of felt like a good number with the wind and everything and just hit a good shot. It was nice to pull it off when it was needed and hit it to a foot.”
That shot may have been the more technically impressive intervention. The putt at the last, though, will be the one that survives in the retelling. Golf is inconsiderate like that.
Ronan Kleu made him earn it
Kleu’s runner-up finish was scarcely conventional either. The Swiss player made the cut on the number, then shot 65 and 63 over the weekend to climb 58 places and set the clubhouse target Kjettrup had to chase.
He finished one stroke ahead of Kristian Hjort Bressum in third. Joseba Torres, Javier Barcos Garbayo and Andrew Wilson shared fourth on 18 under.
Kleu had done almost everything required to steal the week from the leaders. Kjettrup simply found one birdie more.
From an invite to the Road to Mallorca conversation
The scale of Kjettrup’s jump is the real significance of the result. His only previous made cut this season came at the Blot Play9, where he tied for second. At The Caversham, playing on an invite, he converted another strong week into the result that had previously eluded him.
“I mean, it changed a good bit because now it will put me into China. For the grand final, I’m not sure, probably if I keep playing well, so my season changes a little bit.”
Christofer Blomstrand remains top of the Road to Mallorca Rankings, with Pablo Ereno, MJ Daffue, Julian Sale and John Gough still occupying the next four positions.
The circuit now moves to Lisbon for the Open De Portugal at PGA Aroeira 1 from September 17–20. Kjettrup will be there because of one extraordinary week in Reading — and one putt he seemed perfectly entitled to miss.
