Scotland’s Richie Ramsay, with a fourth round of 69 strokes (three under par), for a total of 278 (-10), has won the Hassan II Trophy of Morocco, of the European Tour, held at the Golf du Palais Royal in Agadir, with Spain’s Pablo Larrazábal in third place.
This is the third European Tour victory for Ramsay, born in Aberdeen on June 15, 1983, after previously winning the 2009 South African Open and the 2012 Omegan European Masters.
Ramsay, who started the final round tied for the lead with France’s Romain Wattel, who shot 69 on Sunday, and Scotland’s Andrew McArthur, who went down with a poor card with 77 strokes, soon put things in his favor with four birdies in the first six holes.
However, his chances were jeopardized on holes 7 and 8, where he bogeyed and double bogeyed, respectively. Fortunately, he got back on track with birdies on holes 12, 13 and 14.
Wattel, the only one who could have challenged him for the final victory, made a more anodyne round, with three birdies (3, 7, 17) and a bogey (14).
In third place, shared among six players, finished the Spanish Pablo Larrazábal, who made an excellent round with 68 strokes (eight birdies and four bogeys), to finish three strokes behind the leader.
Txema Olazabal, 49 years old and two-time winner of the Masters, regained his good sensations in Agadir, finishing ninth with 281 strokes and a last fourth round with an impressive 66 impacts (nine birdies and three bogeys). The best card of the day, shared with Englishman Mark Foster.
In the two previous tournaments on the circuit this season, the Dubai Desert Classic and the Masters of Qatar, Olazabal had failed to make the cut.
Final ranking
Andrew McArthur (Sc) 278 strokes (71+71+67+68) (-10); 2. Romain Wattel (Fra) 279 (68+74+67+70); 3. Pablo Larrazábal 280 (70+69+73+68), Chris Wood (Eng), Mikael Lundberg (Sue), George Coetzee (RSa), Jaco van Zyl (RSa) and Kevin Phelan (Irl), 280; 9. Jose M. Olazabal 281 (69+76+70+66); 34. Eduardo de la Riva, Jorge Campillo and Rafael Cabrera Bello, 286; 54. Pedro Oriol 289; 62. Nacho Elvira, 292.
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