Thomas Aiken fought off the effects of two late bogeys on Sunday on his way to a share of seventh place in the DP World Tour’s KLM Open at The International in Amsterdam, Netherlands with his closing three-under-par 68.
Aiken made two pars on the front nine in the final round, but he dropped a shot on the 14th. He responded to that setback with a pair of successive birdies on 16 and 16. His second bogey, on the 17th, could have derailed his effort completely but he responded well with a closing birdie on the 18th.
In the end, his eight-under-par total was three strokes out of the three-way play-off between Joe Dean of England, Marcus Kinhult of Sweden and Guido Migliozzi of Italy.
Migliozzi had bravery on his side, as he launched his drive on the first extra hole as well as the second over the right-hand edge of the fairway and left himself reasonably easy chances for making birdie on the par-five closing hole. All three made birdie on the first play-off hole, but Dean and Kinhult got themselves in trouble on the second trip in extra time, and Migliozzi’s bravery paid off with a birdie for his fourth DP World Tour victory.
Aiken is projected to climb 14 places to 80th in the Race to Dubai rankings, which is a major step to regaining his full playing rights on the DP World Tour if he finishes inside the top 110.
Casey Jarvis closed with a level-par 71 for a share of 15th on six-under, and Robin Williams had the same final-round score for a share of 29th on two-under. Jaco Prinsloo had a three-under 68 to finish on one-under in a share of 38th, and Jayden Schaper was a shot further back in a share of 44th on level-par after a two-over 73.
Darren Fichardt finished in 51st, Zander Lombard in 69th and Ockie Strydom in 73rd.
