3 September 2016 PRESS RELEASE
LEE WESTWOOD WINS THE HICKORY CHALLENGE IN CRANS-MONTANA
TODAY Lee Westwood took home the cow-bell trophy for the “Turn Back Time” 2-hole hickory challenge after the third round of the OMEGA European Masters. Westwood faced stiff competition from Paolo Quirici, 2013 World Hickory Champion, Danny Willett and Miguel Ángel Jiménez. All four players, dressed in 1930s plus fours and newsboy caps, played the 10th and 18th holes (bogey 4 and 5 respectively) of Golf-Club Crans-sur-Sierre with traditional hickory clubs.
The 2-hole challenge was full of dramas from the outset. Willett was the first to tee off landing his ball in the bunker but recovered with a beautiful shot on to the green and then made par. Westwood finished the 10th with a superb putt to share the lead with Jiménez and Willett, celebrating by doing a little dance. Jiménez was unlucky off the 18th and was forced to attempt a Seve-style “Great Escape” from behind the fence although this didn’t quite go according to plan and left him with a disappointing bogey.
Play ended with Westwood and Willett facing each other in a play-off, which was a nearest-to-the-pin challenge from the drop zone on the 18th in front of a packed grand stand. After both players’ balls didn’t make the green (Willett’s heading off to the side of the green and Westwood’s dropping into the water), they attempted the shot again and Westwood got the closest for victory.
Westwood described the challenge, “It was great fun; a completely different feel to what we’re used to normally. You have to wait for it a little bit longer. The challenge was a good finish to a great day of golf.”
The event was set up to commemorate the 70 years that the OMEGA European Masters
has been hosted in Crans-Montana, making it the longest running golf tournament at the same venue in Europe. The vintage clothing and hickory golf clubs were a nod to 1939, which was the first year that the tournament was played at Golf-Club Crans-sur-Sierre.
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Notes to Editors:
OMEGA European Master, 2016 Event Information Venue: Golf Club Crans-sur-Sierre in Crans Montana, Switzerland Dates: Thursday 1st to Sunday 4th September 2016 Prize purse: EUR 2.7m
Website: https://www.omegaeuropeanmasters.com Twitter: omegaEUmasters Instagram: omegaeuropeanmasters Facebook: omegaeuropeanmasters
BACKGROUND TO TOURNAMENT The OMEGA European Masters is one of the most prestigious golf competitions played on European soil. Located at Crans-Montana in the heart of the Swiss Alps, the Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club is indisputably the most spectacular course on the European Tour schedule.
This internationally-renowned golf competition, played on the same course for the 70th time in 2016, has seen players such as Spain's Severiano Ballesteros, José Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia, Scotland's Colin Montgomerie, South Africa's Ernie Els and Britain's Lee Westwood win the coveted trophy.
Since 2009, the OMEGA European Masters, which will offer prize money of EUR 2.7 million in 2016, has been the first tournament to have been jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the European Tour, giving the 30 best Asian players the opportunity to challenge their European counterparts. In 2014, the American David Lipsky is the first player qualified through the Asian Tour to win the tournament.
The 2015 winner is Englishman Danny Willett and this year will see his return to Crans-Montana to defend his title against Lee Westwood, Matt Fitzpatrick, Bryson DeChambeau and Miguel Ángel Jiménez amongst many others.