Q-School grad Vancsik wins Madeira Islands Open by seven  MADEIRA, Portugal -- Daniel Vancsik won the BPI Madeira Islands Open by seven strokes Sunday after shooting a 4-under 68 in the final round of this small European Tour event.  Daniel Vancsik is showered in flower petals after his Madeira Islands victory. (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Four months after surviving the European Tour's qualifying school by the skin of his teeth, the Argentine, who finished at 18-under 270 total, won for the first time on the European Tour. He had seven birdies and three bogeys Sunday. PGA TOUR veteran David Frost (68), 47, and former champion Santiago Luna (69), 44, two of the most seasoned veterans in the field, tied for second at 11 under behind the 30-year-old winner. Frost double bogeyed the fourth hole but birdied eight others. Luna, who the Madeira Islands Open in 1995, had six birdies and three bogeys. Christian Cevaer (72), Mads Vibe-Hastrup (73) and Euan Little (71) tied for fourth at 279. Gregory Bourdy (71), Simon Nash (70) and Alexander Noren (70) followed at 280. Defending champion Jean Van de Velde (70) finished tied for 32nd after four birdies and two bogeys left him at 2-under 286. Vancsik began the final day four clear and five birdies in a front-nine 32 effectively settled the issue. In contrast, Vibe-Hastrup and Cevaer, second and third overnight, went out in 39 and 38. Vancsik's victory is the fourth in a row on the European Tour by a player who had not previously won. South African Anton Haig took the Johnnie Walker Classic in Thailand, China's Lian Wen-chong the Singapore Masters and Thai Chapchai Nirat the TCL Classic in China. In his rookie season last year, Vancsik did not have a single top-10 finish in 25 starts, and he missed the halfway cut in 15 of them. Back to the qualifying school he had to go, and he regained his card with not a single shot to spare after six gruelling rounds over eight days. Now he is exempt on the tour for the next two seasons after a superb performance at Santo da Serra. Frost, playing on a sponsor's invitation, matched Vancsik's closing 68, while Luna, who has had to return to the qualifying school the last two years to extend a career that began in 1982, would have been second on his own but for a bogey at the short 17th in his 69. Welshman Bradley Dredge and England's Kenneth Ferrie, who make their Masters debuts in 11 days, were 16th and 65th, respectively. Copyright 2007 Associated Press and PA Sport. All rights reserved. |
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