Conor Purcell punched his ticket to the DP World Tour in sumptuous fashion after a roaring finish saw him cruise to his second Challenge Tour win at the Hangzhou Open.
Leading by a shot standing on the fifteenth tee, Purcell rolled in three successive birdies on 15, 16 and 17 to storm to a four shot victory on eighteen-under-par after a round of 67.
“It’s an amazing feeling. Getting the first one was special in front of the home crowd. And I couldn’t have asked for a better second one with so many people watching in what has been an amazing event,” said Purcell, who won his maiden Challenge Tour title at the Black Desert NI Open presented by Tom McKibbin in July.
Teeing off in a share of the lead with Ben Schmidt, Purcell opened with six successive pars before taking the lead on his own with three birdies in a row from the seventh.
The Portmarnock man had to overcome a rocky period after two bogeys in three holes on 11 and 13 but he rallied in a champions fashion towards the end and he adds this title to the NI Open crown he won in July.
“It was a nervous start where I just made lots of pars before I got a few birdies towards the end of the front nine. I got a bit slow again on the back nine, made a few mistakes but got myself back in the mindset of making birdies and thankfully a few dropped.”
The 27-year-old began the week ranked 12th in the Road to Mallorca Rankings in the final regular event of the campaign but will now move to 4th in the season long race to the DP World Tour.
Purcell was sure of his place on the tour as he was comfortably inside the top-20, but the status he receives on the DP World Tour will improve now that he has secured his place in the top-10 of the order of merit.
The Grand Final takes place in two weeks and Purcell will have eyes on becoming the first Irishman since Raymie Burns in 1994 to win the Challenge Tour rankings.
“It’s nice to win one of the elevated events before the grand finals so that I can go over there and enjoy a little bit more. I’m definitely going to celebrate because these wins don’t come around too often. I’m having my family over in Mallorca and really looking forward to it,” said Purcell.
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