Alex Maguire shot a closing 67 to finish inside the top 10 as Wales’s Jack Davidson holed an eagle putt on the first play-off hole to defeat Spain’s Juan Salama and claim victory at the Egypt Golf Series Address Marassi Golf Resort 2.
After finishing in solo third, a shot out of the playoff in last week’s event at Marassi having opened with a course-record setting 63 in round one, Maguire was slow out of the blocks for his second event at the Egyptian venue and could only manage a level-par 72.
But a round of 68 on day two got him moving in the right direction and a blistering start to round three gave him an outside chance of staging the most unlikely of final round comebacks to challenge the leaders.
Birdies on one, four, seven and eight, with a bogey coming on five got him to the turn at -3, but then he birdied 10, eagled 12 and birdied 13 to take him to 12-under overall and to within three of the lead at the time.
He continued to push, but paid the penalty with a costly bogey on the par-5 15th, then dropped another shot on 16 to end all hopes of victory but another top 10 finish leaves him in 11th place in the MENA Rankings.
Davidson and Salama both finished regulation play tied at 14-under par after matching four-under 68s, though Salama, playing in the group ahead, had held a two-stroke lead before bogeying while Davidson followed with the birdie needed to set up a dramatic playoff conclusion on the par-5.
Returning to the 18th for the play-off, both players found the fairway off the tee. Davidson went first with his approach and found the centre of the green in two. Salama’s second shot finished just off in the fringe, and with the pin removed he backed himself to hole the eagle chip, but the lie wasn’t ideal and he caught it slightly heavy, leaving it short of the hole. Davidson then stepped up and rolled in his eagle putt from 25 feet to seal a remarkable victory.
The triumph caps an incredible week for the Welshman, who was one over par after an opening 71 before firing a course record-equalling 63 in round two to propel himself into contention.
“It’s been a bit of a journey over the last few of days, and really over the last couple of years,” said Davidson. “I wasn’t really in the tournament after the first round, but shooting 63 put me right back in it and gave me a chance going into the final day with so many players close together.
“I was giving myself chances all day and even though the putts weren’t dropping late on, I stayed patient and managed to get myself into the play-off. From there it was just about having no fear and committing fully to every shot. If I was going to win, I wanted to do it by trying my best, not by hoping.”
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