Julien Quesne wins Italian Open
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A brilliant back nine 31 saw Julien Quesne snatch the Italian Open in Torino and claim his second European Tour title.
The Frenchman began the day four shots off the lead and looked out of contention when he ran up a double-bogey six on the second, but birdied the 4th and 6th and then stormed home in 31 thanks to birdies at the 10th, 11th and 15th before chipping in from short of the 17th green and holing from six-feet for another birdie on the last to complete a closing 67.
Overnight leader Marcus Fraser signed for a 74 to finish joint eighth on nine-under-par, leaving Ireland’s David Higgins and England’s Steve Webster to share second on 11-under.
Higgins, who had managed just one previous top-three finish in more than 200 European Tour events spanning 20 years, birdied the last for a closing 68.
Quesne, whose previous win came in the Open de Andalucía last year, said: “I am very proud of this back nine. My attitude was very good this week and I think this is the key.
“To enjoy a second win on The European Tour is like a dream for me. After my double bogey I just kept calm. I was thinking the winner would be 15-under and I was only five-under. I thought ‘just keep working and we will see what happens’.”
The victory lifts Quesne to 41st on The Race to Dubai, with the the top 60 qualifing for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
Favourite Francesco Molinari briefly threatened a fairytale victory when he recovered from two early bogeys by holing a bunker shot on the 8th and making a birdie on the 9th, but the Ryder Cup star stumbled home in 39 to finish five back.
