Lipsky wins play-off as Willett shines

Lipsky almost holed his approach to the 18th hole to card a closing 65 and force a play-off with England’s Graeme Storm after the pair finished tied on 18 under par at Crans-sur-Sierre.

They returned to the 18th for the first extra hole and the contest appeared over when Storm’s drive missed the fairway and finished up against a wall, forcing the former French Open champion to pitch out sideways.

Lipsky had just 86 yards to the hole from a fairway bunker but did not even attempt to go for the green, a decision described as “heartless” by former European Tour player Wayne Riley, commentating for Sky Sports.

However, Lipsky had the last laugh as he pitched to two feet and holed for the winning par after Storm missed from long range.

American Brooks Koepka was tied for the lead with Storm until a bogey on the 17th, where his wayward approach plugged in a greenside bunker.

Koepka finished joint third alongside England’s Tyrrell Hatton, with Sheffield’s Danny Willett and Tommy Fleetwood another shot back in fifth.

Lipsky, who usually plays on the Asian Tour, said: “It feels spectacular. I’ve put in a lot of hard work and have been playing well the last couple of weeks and to put it all together this week is very special to me.”

Asked by Riley why he chose to lay-up on the play-off hole, Lipsky added: “I was just debating in my head the worst-case possibilities and scenarios.

“It was a tough shot to get it on the green from there and I had enough faith in my short game to lay it up and try and get up and down. It ended up working out.”

Harrogate’s John Parry finished down the leaderboard after rounds of 71 68 69 72.