Fleetwood prevails to secure first Euro title

Gallacher looked out of contention when he ran up a triple-bogey seven on the 11th in a roller-coaster final round, but bounced back with birdies at the 14th and 16th and then holed from 15ft for an eagle on the last to complete a 67.

That set the clubhouse target at 18 under par and Fleetwood matched it thanks to an eagle of his own on the 16th and birdie on the last, with playing partner Gonzalez making birdies on the 16th and 18th holes after almost holing his bunker shot on the last for a winning eagle.

On the Centenary Course which will host next year’s Ryder Cup, the players returned to the par-five 18th for the play-off and Gallacher was eliminated when he failed to get up and down from a greenside bunker, missing a birdie putt from seven feet. Gonzalez had putted down to five feet from just off the back of the green and when he also missed, Fleetwood was left to hole from four feet for a winning birdie and the first prize of £233,330.

“The other two guys were a little unlucky with their putts and before you know it you have a four footer for the win,” said Fleetwood, who carded a closing 70. “Goodness knows how I made contact. It all seemed to unravel really quickly.”

The 22-year-old from Southport was the youngest winner of the Challenge Tour in 2011 but only kept his card at the end of his rookie season on the European Tour thanks to a first top-10 finish of the year in the final event in South Africa.

Three of the quartet of Yorkshire players in action finished strongly.

Hull’s Richard Finch – who aced the 17th on Friday – carded 68 69 to finish in a tie for 23rd alongside Harrogate’s John Parry (70 70) on 11 under par. Malton’s Simon Dyson was a shot further back after shooting 71 68.

Sheffield’s Danny Willett fired 68 on Saturday but slipped to a closing 76.