Belek: Start to finish victory for Björn Pettersson

The 33-year-old from Sala in Sweden celebrated his first tournament win on the RENAULT EPD Tour at the Sueno Pines Classic in Belek, Turkey, and relegated German Daniel Wünsche to 2nd place  

By Matthias Lettenbichler

Belek/Turkey (mat) – “It was a little bit chilly indeed“, Björn Pettersson said after climbing back to the shoreline of the lake at the 18th hole of the Sueno Golf Resort in Belek/Turkey. “But that was well worth it!” His colleagues of the RENAULT EPD Tour had given him a free flight into the water – a tradition since many years – but tournament winner Björn Pettersson, a 33 year old Swede, felt pretty refreshed but definitely very happy after the swim.

It was an impressive start to finish victory which he managed at the Sueno Pines Classic, the second tournament of the 2010 RENAULT EPD Tour: with rounds of 68, 72 and 71 strokes, a total of 5 under par, the Swede took the reins from the very beginning on the Pines Course of the Sueno Golf Hotels at Belek in Turkey.

On the first day he managed seven birdies with three bogeys on the par 72 course, and the 68 strokes were the best result of the starting round. Only the Finn Janne Martikainen played just as well. Yet while he had to note down a 79 on his scorecard on the second day, Pettersson followed up with a solid par and defended the top position on the leader board.

“I played very consistently. A better result would have been possible in the second round, but overall I am satisfied with my performance”, said the winner from Sala, a small town an hour’s drive north of Stockholm. In the final round he hit every green, compiled good birdie opportunities despite challenging flag positions, and took advantage of three of them – with two bogeys.

With 71 strokes the experienced player clinched the triumph in superior style and relegated the German Daniel Wünsche – who had won the season prelude at the Sueno Dunes Classic last week – to second place (73, 71, 70/-2). Third place (each with 1 under par) was shared by Dutchman Richard Kind (69, 73, 73) and Maximilian Glauert (74, 67, 74) from Germany; Glauert managed the best round of the tournament with the 67 on the second day.

“The tour is outstandingly organised”

“I am very happy that I can prepare myself for the season during the Winter Series of the RENAULT EPD Tour”, says Pettersson, who has been playing on the Challenge Tour for many years. “The tour is outstandingly organised.” Everything went well up until the obligatory bath in the pond on the 18th green, where his fellow players carried the winner after the victory ceremony. “That was somewhat cold, but one gladly accepts that”, says Pettersson after he swam puffing to the shoreline.

The Winter Series in Belek, which is supported by the “golf.extra” travel organisation from Heilbronn (Germany), features five players from Sweden at the start as well as professionals from 14 other nations.

Two of seven tournaments of the RENAULT EPD Tour 2010 Winter Series have been played. After his triumph in the previous week and second place at the Sueno Pines Classic, Daniel Wünsche has extended his lead in the ranking list. With 7,589 points he is 1,317 ahead of Pettersson (6,272 points).

The Montgomerie Classic, in which both frontrunners will again be featured at the start, starts this Thursday. Once again the tournament features 30,000 euros in prize money. Photos: EPD Tour