Andy DevaneyFour shots adrift overnight, Johan Edfors tore through Fontanals Golf with an eight-birdie 64 to claim his second Staysure Legends Tour victory of the season.
Johan Edfors did not so much chase down the European Legends Cup by SR Nexus as arrive on Sunday, remove the handbrake and make everybody else look suddenly busy.
Four shots off the lead at the start of the final round, the Swede produced an eight-birdie 64 at Fontanals Golf to finish 15-under-par and win by three. It was his second Staysure Legends Tour title of the season, following his breakthrough victory at the OFX Irish Legends, and another reminder that a crowded leaderboard is only comforting until somebody shoots eight under.
Edfors began the day on seven under, with overnight leader Bradley Dredge and Steve Webster setting the early pace. Webster birdied the first to erase Dredge’s one-shot advantage, and both made birdie at the par-five second. Robert Coles soon entered the argument too.
For a while, Edfors was merely one of several names circling the lead. Then the round tightened, and he kept moving.
The putter turns a chase into a charge
Dredge’s first bogey of the week came at the tenth, opening the tournament a little wider. Coles then holed a 20-foot birdie putt at the 13th to reach 14 under and take the outright lead.
Edfors answered with a birdie of his own at the 13th, moving to 12 under, before the final round tilted decisively in his direction.
Coles found water at the 14th. Edfors, meanwhile, kept collecting birdies. By the time he converted an eight-footer at the 15th, he had swept into the outright lead.
There is no great mystery about what made the difference. Edfors had opened the week with a level-par 72, then improved sharply with rounds of 65 and 64. The common thread was the putter.
“I’ve been putting really, really well,” he said. “I’ve been starting the ball on line and I’ve been good with the pace as well. With greens this good, you’re going to hole a few putts, and I holed my fair share.”
He certainly chose a convenient time for it.
Three holes, one job
The closing stretch was less about fireworks and more about refusing to make a mess of what had already been built.
At the 16th, a huge drive finished close to the water before Edfors found the left side of the green with a wedge. His 45-foot birdie attempt narrowly missed, but par was enough. At the 17th, he used the putter from just off the green and again escaped without damage.
Webster’s bogey at the 16th stretched Edfors’ advantage to three, leaving the Swede with a wonderfully uncomplicated assignment at the last: keep the ball dry, avoid heroics and let everybody else worry.
He did exactly that. A powerful drive and controlled wedge into the 18th left two putts for victory, and a tap-in par completed a superb 64.
“I saw the leaderboard when I was on 16 and realised if I made three pars coming in, I should have a pretty good chance of winning,” Edfors said. “I managed to do that, so that was nice.”
Understatement travels well in golf.
A second title changes the season
The victory gives Edfors two Staysure Legends Tour wins in the same season, adding Fontanals to his OFX Irish Legends title.
For a three-time DP World Tour winner, the pedigree was never the question. What matters now is the shape of his Legends Tour season. He has gone from first-time winner earlier in the campaign to multiple champion, and the points table reflects it.
Stephen Gallacher’s tied-fifth finish at 10 under moved him to the top of the Road to Cambodia Order of Merit with 2,565 points. Edfors climbed to second on 2,462.5, just ahead of Mikael Lundberg on 2,438.
That leaves precious little breathing room at the top.
Fontanals delivers the backdrop — Edfors supplies the finish
Edfors was equally enthusiastic about the setting after three days in La Cerdanya.
“It’s been a fantastic week,” he said. “The weather has been unbelievable and the views here are phenomenal as well. The condition of the golf course is as good as it can be really, so overall it’s just been a fantastic week.”
The Staysure Legends Tour now moves to China for the Reignwood Legends Championship at Reignwood Pine Valley from 2–4 October.
Gallacher will arrive as Order of Merit leader. Edfors will arrive 102.5 points behind him, carrying two victories and the useful knowledge that four shots on Sunday can disappear rather quickly when the putter behaves.
