Price secures maiden Seniors Tour win

Terry Price completed the most dominant victory of the 2012 European Senior Tour season with a final round of five under par 67 to record a stunning six-shot win over Marc Farry and Barry Lane at the Pon Senior Open at Winston Golf.

The Australian was simply unstoppable during the final round over the Winston Open course as he secured the first Senior Tour victory of his career and the first place cheque for €60,000.

With some of the Senior Tour’s biggest names – among them Lane and Bernhard Langer – starting their own final rounds with a bang, Price could have been forgiven for taking it easy and feeling his way into the final round, which he had begun with a three-stroke cushion.

But the 51 year old went on the attack from the word go, birdieing two of his first three holes to keep plenty of daylight between himself and the chasing pack.

He then decided to blow the rest of the field out of the water with a breath-taking run of four consecutive birdies between the ninth and 12^th holes to set up a victory stroll over his closing holes as he finished the week on 16 under par to win by six and smash Tim Thelen’s previous three-stroke winning-margin record of 2012.

“It feels great to win,” said Price, who leaped 42 spots on the Senior Tour Order of Merit to move to 21^st position.

“The week couldn’t really have gone any better – it was very smooth. I only made two bogeys all week and it was tough at points out there so it was by no means easy and that makes it all the more satisfying.

“Because I had a good lead overnight, I actually thought that the best way to approach today was to set myself a target. I was trying to get to 17 under for the week and I failed by one but I suppose when you win by six shots you can’t have too many complaints!

“This feels great – my game felt like it had been getting very close in the build-up to this week but to come here and play the way that I did is really, really satisfying.

“It means a lot to win out here in a field with players Like Barry Lane and Bernhard Langer in it. Those two guys are among the best Senior players in the world and there are so many other great players out here that it is a really great achievement to come out on top.

“I know my score was pretty low but it was a pretty tough golf course that we played this week and I have to say that the condoning of the course and the set-up of the tournament was just first class.”

Given the level of dominance displayed by Price throughout the tournament, Farry and Lane were happy to share second place and cheque for €34,000 each.

“I have to say well done to Terry – that is just a fantastic achievement to finish the week around this golf course on 16 under par,” said Farry.

“I am very pleased to finish second because I began the week without a lot of confidence and I feel that is coming back to me now after playing well for the three rounds here. It is such a crazy game and it is all about confidence so I will look forward to the last few events of the season now.”

Lane never seems to lack confidence on the Senior Tour, and another strong finish further cemented his second place on the Order of Merit, behind the Senior Tour’s two-time Major Champion of 2012, Roger Chapman.

“It’s been another good week,” said the Englishman. “We have had a lot of fun this week and it is good to keep playing well and keep getting some good results on the board, but this is definitely Terry’s day and Terry’s week – he has been awesome this week and really deserves to win.”

Complete round three scores from the Pon Senior Open; Winston Golf; Schwerin; Germany; 6844 yard par 72.

200 T Price (Aus) 67 66 67;

206 B Lane (Eng) 73 67 66; M Farry (Fra) 71 66 69;

207 B Longmuir (Sco) 70 66 71;

208 G Wolstenholme (Eng) 74 66 68; A Sherborne (Eng) 71 68 69; G Ralph (Eng) 70 66 72;

209 S Van Vuuren (RSA) 70 70 69; B Langer (Ger) 68 73 68;

210 D Smyth (Irl) 71 68 71; C Mason (Eng) 71 72 67; M Harwood (Aus) 69 69 72;

211 M Martin (Esp) 71 71 69; D Durnian (Eng) 72 71 68; P Golding (Eng) 70 69 72; K Spurgeon (Eng) 70 69 72; D Merriman (Aus) 72 68 71; R Drummond (Sco) 67 72 72; P Curry (Eng) 70 70 71; C Williams (RSA) 74 72 65; G Norquist (USA) 71 67 73;

212 A Oldcorn (Sco) 71 69 72; P Fowler (Aus) 72 72 68; J Quiros (Esp) 72 71 69; J Harrison (Eng) 73 68 71; S Cipa (Eng) 73 70 69; J Hall (Eng) 72 71 69;

213 S McAllister (Sco) 71 70 72; J Bruner (USA) 71 71 71; G Banister (Aus) 70 72 71;

214 G Brand (Eng) 69 73 72; A Franco (Par) 72 69 73; J Gould (Eng) 75 71 68; P Wesselingh (Eng) 77 68 69;

215 T Giedeon (Ger) 70 74 71; N Job (Eng) 73 69 73; M Cunning (USA) 70 73 72; E Darcy (Irl) 74 72 69; L Carbonetti (Arg) 76 68 71; M Mouland (Wal) 72 75 68;

216 R Gibson (Can) 71 73 72; M Belsham (Eng) 69 77 70; Z Martinez (USA) 69 74 73; P Mitchell (Eng) 74 68 74; A Forsbrand (Swe) 72 71 73;

217 N Ratcliffe (Aus) 73 73 71; B Lincoln (RSA) 74 70 73; G Manson (Aut) 73 74 70; T Elliott (Aus) 73 70 74; T Johnstone (Zim) 71 76 70;

218 G Brand Jnr (Sco) 78 70 70; R Sabarros (Fra) 73 71 74; J Rhodes (Eng) 73 75 70;

219 J Chillas (Sco) 71 76 72; B Cameron (Eng) 73 72 74;

220 T Thelen (USA) 74 75 71; R Davis (Aus) 78 70 72; M Piñero (Esp) 74 73 73;

221 M Gray (Sco) 78 73 70; A Fernandez (Chi) 74 74 73; D Russell (Eng) 76 75 70; P Walton (Irl) 75 77 69; B Ruangkit (Tha) 74 75 72;

222 B Smit (RSA) 77 74 71; D O’Sullivan (Irl) 75 71 76; G Ryall (Eng) 76 73 73;

223 D Hospital (Esp) 77 73 73;

224 P Smith (Sco) 75 73 76;

226 P Dahlberg (Swe) 79 72 75;

227 G Cali (Ita) 74 74 79; T Burgoyne (Sco) 83 74 70;

235 A Garrido (Esp) 78 78 79;

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