After an intense play-off victory at the Ballantine’s Championship last Sunday, matters were much more straightforward at Binhai Lake GC for Brett Rumford, as he became only the 31st player to win consecutive titles on The European Tour at the Volvo China Open.
The 35 year old, who wore a full line up of FJ apparel in addition to FJ ICON shoes and SciFlex glove, surged clear of the field with five birdies in ten holes delivering a short-game masterclass to finish on 16 under par.
The jubilant Australian declared "As with last week I’m kind of speechless at the moment." and further added “It’s quite surreal – it’s the first time I’ve actually played the week after a win so I’m more than pleased. It’s hard to get my head around it at the moment.”
“I managed to get up and down when I really needed to. There are some very tight lies round the perimeters of the greens, so it was tricky.”
The fourth and fifth European Tour titles of Rumford’s career signal a remarkable upturn in form – he was 138th on The Race to Dubai a fortnight ago but now leads the way on €811,806, having won €775,406 in his past two tournaments alone.
“My putter was also really on song, as it was last week. It puts a lot of pressure on your opponent when you’re saving par all the time.”
Over on the Asian Tour, fellow FJ Staffer and FJ Performance Apparel Ambassador Bernd Wiesberger sealed a dramatic one stroke victory at the CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters.
Played at the stunning Royale Jakarta Golf Club, Bernd wearing head to toe FJ apparel and FJ ICON shoes and StaSof glove, shot a front nine of 34 to climb to the top of the leaderboard.
The Austrian added an eagle at the 12th and a birdie at the 16th to post a 15 under par total, one ahead of the field.
The 27 year old showed periods of exquisite iron play and stated post victory "I was struggling in the beginning after my birdie on one. But at the turn I got a bit of momentum going because I was confident with my ball striking.”
This is Bernd's first victory of the 2013 season and sixth international victory overall in what has been a scintillating weekend for FootJoy.
FJ WINS, YOU WIN: Click here for your second chance in 7 days to win a pair of FJ ICON shoes and a SciFlex glove just like Brett Rumford used en route to victory in the Volvo China Open.
No purchase necessary, Void where prohibited, Open to UK & Ireland residents 18 years or older, FJ Wins, You Win offered from 9.01am on the 6th May 2013 to 11.59 on the 9th May 2013.
Let's have a look inside the ropes and see who is around...
Australia’s Brett Rumford overcame a late wobble to win the Ballantine’s Championship after a dramatic three-way play-off.
An eagle at the first extra hole gave the 35 year old a fourth European Tour title and first for six years after a closing 68 left him on 11 under par.
Rumford wearing a full line up of FJ apparel in addition to his FJ ICON shoes and SciFlex glove, had raced to the turn in just 30 strokes in the final round and still led by two shots with two holes to play, only to run up a double-bogey six on the 17th after a wild drive led to a penalty drop from a ***.
Another errant tee-shot on the 18th meant Rumford eventually had to hole from eight feet to save par, and fellow FJ player, Scotland’s Peter Whiteford (FJ ICON and SciFlex) knew a four at the last would be enough to win.
The 32 year old chipped to five feet after missing the green with his approach, but agonisingly missed the birdie putt to finish alongside Rumford on 11 under.
The three players returned to the 18th tee and, after a quick call to his coach, Rumford hit a much better drive and having seen his opponents fail to reach the green in two fired a brilliant approach to four feet and eagled to take the title.
“It was an absolute rollercoaster ride of emotions out there this afternoon, obviously my last five holes yesterday and front nine today got me in a great position to take this tournament.”
In what was a fantastic weekend for FJ winners, Billy Horschel claimed his first PGA Tour victory by tying the course record eight under par-64 to win the Zurich Classic.
The 26-year old began the final day two strokes back of the lead and wasted little time catching the leaders, carding four birdies on the front nine for a 32. Continuing his red hot play, Horschel made consecutive birdies at 10, 11, and 12 to race to the top of the leaderboard.
Dropping a stroke at the 15th, Billy rebounded with a birdie at the following hole to keep the lead. Needing a birdie at the par five final hole to wrap up the victory, Horschel drained a 27 foot birdie bid and exploded into emotion at the realisation that he is now a PGA Tour winner.
Horschel relied on FJ ICON MyJoys and StaSof throughout his breakthrough performance.
FJ WINS, YOU WIN: Click here for your shot to win a pair of FJ ICON shoes and a SciFlex glove just like Brett Rumford used en route to victory.
No purchase necessary, Void where prohibited, Open to UK & Ireland residents 18 years or older, FJ Wins, You Win offered from 9.01am on 29th April 2013 to 11.59 on 02nd May 2013.
This week, Blackstone GC on the edge of Seoul, plays host to the European Tour for the 2013 Ballantines Championship. Check out the slide show below for a look behind the ropes of this week's event.
This week, we are at the Open de Espana at the Parador de El Saler course near Valencia. Check out the slide show below for a look behind the ropes of this week's event.