By John Huggan
It was a week of questions and (some) answers at the Made in Denmark. Perhaps the biggest of those was the response of Matt Wallace to the challenges presented by three of his fellow Englishmen during what was a pulsating final round Sunday at Silkeborg Ry Golf Club. Two over par after four holes and, later, seemingly out of contention after a poor bogey at the drivable par-4 12th, Wallace made five birdies in his final six holes to get to 19 under par and haul himself into a playoff with compatriots Lee Westwood, Steven Brown and Jonathan Thomson.

Even more impressively, Wallace completed his third victory of the 2018 season with birdies at each of the two extra holes. The first eliminated Westwood and Thomson; the second finally closed out the brave challenge of Brown, whose previous best finish on the European Tour was T-7 in Sicily earlier this year.

Warren Little/Getty Images
Westwood, with his girlfriend/caddie Helen Storey, couldn’t hold on to the lead he took into the final round.

“To win in that style is special,” said Wallace, previously victorious at the Hero Indian Open and the BMW International this year. “That just says who I am—my grit and determination is what I am all about. I never shy away from the big occasion.”

Sadly, the same cannot be said for the aging Westwood. Leading after 54 holes, the 23-time European Tour winner shot a closing two-under 69, highlighted by the impressively consistent tee-to-green play that once took the 45-year-old to No. 1 in the world.

Also in evidence, however, was the increasingly weak putting that has done much to keep Westwood from winning any tournament since April 2015. After missing from short range on both the 12th and 13th greens, Westwood also came up woefully short with birdie putts on each of the last two greens. While all three of the eventual runners-up will surely leave Denmark thinking what might have been, it is Westwood who will look back with most regret.

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By John Huggan

He’s a bit different, is Julian Suri. The 26-year-old New Yorker knows his history—and is, despite Edmund Burke’s long ago admonition, well on his way to repeating it. Following in the footsteps of former U.S. Amateur champion Peter Uihlein and current U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka, Suri became the third American to win on both the Challenge Tour and the European Tour with his victory Sunday in the Made in Denmark tournament.

Starting the final round at the Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort two shots behind the overnight leader, Englishman David Horsey, Suri wiped out the deficit early, three birdies in succession from the second sending him into a lead he never fully relinquished. Horsey made a fight of it though. By the 12th the pair were tied, a state of affairs Suri changed at the 15th when his seventh birdie of the day took him to 19-under par for the week.

Still one ahead on the 18th tee, Suri made a safe par as Horsey—by then the only serious challenger—stumbled to a closing triple bogey that made the final margin of victory four shots. Three more Englishmen, Steve Webster, Chris Paisley and Ben Evans, tied for third on 13 under.

Former Open and PGA champion John Daly’s bid to become the oldest-ever winner on the European Tour ended in failure. The 51-year-old closed with an even-par 71, two birdies and two bogeys after a thrilling Saturday 65, that left him a tie for 10th place.

Flawless. Suri’s final round 64 in under 3 minutes ? #MiDGolf pic.twitter.com/3pZUWDnjBx

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) August 27, 2017

“To have seven birdies and be bogey-free in the final round was really solid,” said Suri, who played his college golf at Duke and was competing in only his seventh European Tour event. “I’m pretty proud of that. It was a blast out there. Especially in that atmosphere with the fans. It was really cool. Everybody is so enthusiastic out there, with such genuine appreciation for the game and spectacle. I just wanted to soak it up as much as I could.

“I feel like my game belongs at the top of the game. This is definitely something I’ve worked for and kind of expected for a long time. But to finally come out and do it, especially after the string of good finishes this summer, is really special.”

It was a memorable week, too, for Thomas Bjorn, even if Denmark’s most famous golfer finished no better than T-44. In what was his 500th European Tour event, Europe’s Ryder Cup skipper was greeted on Day 1 by a sea of spectators wearing “Thomas Bjorn” masks as he approached the green at the short 16th. The avid Liverpool fan was then treated to a rendition of the football club’s anthem, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” (from the musical Carousel). Hey, you had to be there.

Julian Suri is now 60th in the Race to Dubai rankings and will be eager to stay in the top 60 to feature in the DP World Tour Championship at JGE in November.

It was Suri’s week though, a fact that will come as no surprise to the man himself. Not lacking in confidence, the former All-American has lofty ambitions that extend beyond victory in what is hardly the biggest event on the European Tour. Speaking before the Scottish Hydro Challenge in June (where he would miss the cut), Suri was bold in his claims.

“My ultimate goal is to be top of the world rankings,” he said. “People say I might have locked up my card for next year on the European Tour. And that’s fine. But there are still a few months to go this year. And what gets me going is putting pressure on myself.

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I have big expectations. My aim is to be in the top-100 on the rankings by the end of the year.    “To do that, I have to prepare well and give myself the best chance of winning tournaments every week. Two years from now, I’d like to be in the top-10 and giving myself the chance to win majors. I feel like the ceiling of my game is at that level. I don’t see why I can’t.”   Quite. And on the evidence of this week, he’s well on his way.

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After a Saturday 65, Daly trails David Horsey by three shots entering the final round at the Made In Denmark. The two-time major champ is tied for third in a group that includes 2010 U.S. Open runner-up Gregory Havret. And Daly did it all wearing these pants:

A victory would make Daly, 51, the oldest winner in European Tour history. That record is currently held by Miguel Angel Jimenez, who won the 2012 Hong Kong Open at 48.

Daly made the turn at four under, then added two more birdies on Nos. 13 and 15. He made his lone bogey of the day on the par-3 16th, but bounced back with this birdie on No. 17 that briefly tied him for the lead:

Enter 'Wild Thing'…#MiDGolf pic.twitter.com/1kltm5JRh4

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) August 26, 2017

Daly, 51, won his first PGA Tour Champions event earlier this year at the Insperity Invitational, but his last victory on an under-50 major tour came at the PGA Tour’s 2004 Buick Invitational. His lone regular European Tour title (not counting his two majors) was the 2001 BMW International Open. Daly is currently 14th on the senior tour’s points list.

In four PGA Tour starts this season, Daly missed the cut in each and failed to shoot anything better than 73. He is currently No. 1,866 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

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