Dubliner Connor Purcell won his second Challenge Tour of the season by four strokes in the final round with a 4-under 67 on Sunday to win the inaugural Hangzhou Open. Tournament champion.
“It's an amazing feeling. Winning your first title in front of a home crowd is special.
“I couldn't have asked for a better event, it was an amazing event for so many people to watch,” Purcell said. He won his first Challenge Tour title in July at the Black Desert NI Open hosted by Tom McKibbin.
Spain's Angel Ayora shot 69, tied for second with England's Jack Senior and Finland's Oliver Lindell, and Zhou Yanhan shot 64 pole, tied for fifth place with Swedish player Niklas Lemke, becoming the highest-ranked Chinese player. Felix Mory of France.
Purcell, 27, entered the final round tied for the lead and started his round with six straight shots.
At Westlake International Golf and Country Club, he got out of trouble with a birdie hat trick starting on the par-3 seventh hole.
Purcell opened the door for his nearest rival after two shots on the 11th and 13th holes.
However, he birdied three of his final four holes to post a victory of 18-under 266 to secure the title with ease.
“It was a nervous start and I made a lot of pars before I made a couple of birdies at the end of the front nine,” admitted Connor, son of legendary former Portmarnock pro Joey.
“I was a little slow again on the back nine and made some mistakes, but got myself back into a birdie mentality and thankfully I missed some birdies.”
With his latest win in Hangzhou, Purcell jumps eight places to fourth in the Road to Mallorca rankings and is almost certain to advance to the DP World Tour, with only the R&A-backed Rolex Challenge remaining next week Tour finals.
The top 45 players will compete in the finals and advance to the DP World Tour along with the top 20 players at the end of the season.
Connor will be joined by Ballymena's Dermot McElroy and West Waterford's Gary Hurley.
“It’s nice to win a high-level event before the finals so I can go there and have more fun.
“I'm definitely going to celebrate because these wins don't come around very often. I'm bringing my family to Mallorca and I'm really looking forward to it,” Purcell said.
