Christoffer Bring has won the 2021 European Amateur Championship.
The Danish player started the final round at 16-under-par, one stroke behind the number-one ranked amateur player in Europe, Ludvig Åberg.
The final round got off to a bad start for Bring at Golf du Médoc Resort. A pulled opening tee shot from the first tee led to a penalty drop and a double-bogey.
Bring’s playing partner in the Scandinavian final pairing opened with a birdie, meaning the 22-year-old Dane found himself four strokes behind after just one hole.
Bring kept his composure however, making two birdies in the next three holes, while Sweden’s Åberg dropped a shot on the 4th hole, bringing the leading margin back to one stroke.
The penultimate pairing consisted of two Spanish players, Joel Moscatel and David Puig. The Spaniards were in contention, starting the day within just four shots of the lead, and would have given Spain its first champion in the event since Sergio Garcia (1995) with victory this week.
Despite getting within one shot of the lead heading into the back-nine, Puig was unable to challenge the Scandinavian leaders after costly mistakes on the 11th and 12th holes. A final round 71 (par) and a total of -15 would earn the Spaniard the bronze medal however.
By the 13th hole, Åberg's lead was still just one shot in the final pairing, although a three-putt bogey to a difficult pin position on the 13th green would level the score at -18.
Both players birdied the reachable par-5 14th, but a pulled drive from the Swedish player on 15 left him with no option to play for the green. Åberg would drop a shot and give Bring the lead with just three holes to play.
The pressure didn't get to the Dane, who made a three on the par-4 16th to get to -20 four the tournament and extend his lead to two with two to play.
Pars from both players on the final holes meant Bring becomes the fourth Danish player to win the trophy and the second in the span of three years. Nicolai Hojgaard lifted the trophy in 2018, Lucas Bjerregaard in 2010, and Morten Backhausen in 1993.
"Well I started off with a double-bogey. So I guess I could kind of play a little free from there." Said Bring after his round. "It was a three shot swing, between Ludvig and I, I guess I relaxed a little bit and just played my own game and it was nice to finish with 6 birdies in my last 17."
The victory also earns Bring a spot in The 149th Open Championship at Royal St. George's, where he'll play alongside 2019 and 2020 champion, Matthias Schmid. When asked how he felt about earning a spot to play in his first major championship, he replied: "I'm extremely happy, it's great. It's pretty surreal right now, I can't really believe it. It's pretty cool."
Ludvig Åberg, who shot the lowest score of the tournament in Round 3, a 10-under-par 61, took home the silver medal with a final score of 18-under-par.
All scores from the event can be found on the European Amateur Championship event page.
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