Lyoness Open: Dylan Fritelli lands maiden European title

Day four leaders

-12 Dylan Frittelli

-11 Mikko Korhonen, David Horsey, J'be Kruger

-10 Richard McEvoy

Scroll down for collated scores

Day four report

Six weeks after squandering a four-shot lead with seven holes to play in the China Open, South Africa's Dylan Frittelli held his nerve to claim his first European Tour title in the Lyoness Open.

Frittelli, a former college team-mate of two-time major winner Jordan Spieth, carded a final round of 67 at Lyoness Country Club to finish 12 under par, a shot ahead of David Horsey, J'be Kruger and Mikko Korhonen.

The 27-year-old from Johannesburg began the day two shots off the lead, but birdied three of the first four holes and picked up another shot on the ninth to move to the top of the leaderboard.

Another birdie on the 11th briefly gave Frittelli a two-shot advantage, but that turned into a one-shot deficit when he bogeyed the 14th and compatriot Kruger followed an eagle on the 12th with birdies on the 15th and 16th.

England's Richard McEvoy also birdied the 15th and 16th to reach 12 under, only to bogey the last two holes and have to settle for fifth place, while Frittelli birdied the 16th to regain a share of top spot.

Kruger then bogeyed the 18th and after crucially saving par from over the 17th green, Frittelli produced a superb tee shot to the heart of the green on the last to set up a winning par.

"It's amazing," Frittelli told Sky Sports. "At the start of the week I was obviously hoping for this but I'm really elated right now and super stoked."

Frittelli, who lost to Alexander Levy in a play-off in China and also in extra holes in the 2016 Australian PGA Championship, added: "I was just trying to get it on the green (on the last), make a par and avoid a play-off.

"My 0-2 record in play-offs is not very good so I didn't want to have extra guys in the play-off - trying to beat them there on the 18th would have been tough.

"Five years ago I played this tournament on an invite and managed to miss my second round tee-time so I'd like to think this is a role-reversal here and culimnation of the hard work I've done in between those two periods.

"Hopefully this means big things for my career, get me in the Open Championship, move up in the Race To Dubai and open up some more doors further down the road."

Chile's Felipe Aguilar, who held a two-shot lead after each of the first three rounds, struggled to a closing 75 to fall into a five-way tie for 10th which also included defending champion Wu Ashun.

Horsey, who equalled the course record with a 64 on Friday, began the day five shots off the lead but birdied the first four holes on his way to a flawless closing 65.

"I was a long way back going into today but got off to a fast start, which is what I needed, and I can't really grumble at shooting 65 on a Sunday," Horsey said. "You've just got to question the first and third rounds.

"My game is a work in progress still and it's nice to see that the good's getting very close (to a win)."

McEvoy had holed out from a bunker on the 12th for one of his six birdies, but was left to rue failing to get up and down from sand on the 17th and 18th after missing out on a first European Tour title.

"I am massively disappointed having got myself in a great position with two holes to play, but obviously at the start of the day 68 would have been a good score," the 37-year-old said.

"But I was playing to win and it didn't quite go for me in those last couple of holes."

Collated final-round scores:

(GB & Ire unless stated, par 72): 

276 Dylan Frittelli (Rsa) 70 71 68 67

277 J'be Kruger (Rsa) 69 73 68 67, David Horsey 75 64 73 65, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 71 73 66 67

278 Richard McEvoy 72 71 67 68

279 Johan Carlsson (Swe) 67 71 71 70

281 Lucas Bjerregaard (Den) 70 72 70 69, Sepp Straka (Aut) 69 70 70 72, Joost Luiten (Ned) 73 72 70 66

282 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 65 70 72 75, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 69 72 72 69, Matt Wallace 71 73 69 69, Ashun Wu (Chn) 70 75 69 68, Nino Bertasio (Ita) 70 72 73 67

283 Craig Lee 73 72 68 70, Alexander Bjork (Swe) 69 74 68 72, Simon Forsstrom (Swe) 70 74 70 69, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 70 69 74 70, Graeme Storm 68 69 75 71

284 Roope Kakko (Fin) 71 75 69 69, Maximilian Kieffer (Ger) 69 71 74 70, Austin Connelly (Can) 71 75 72 66

285 Julian Suri (USA) 75 69 70 71, Ryan Fox (Nzl) 71 70 71 73, Paul Maddy 71 71 72 71, Matthew Baldwin 69 72 71 73, Ryan McCarthy (Aus) 69 74 71 71

286 Phachara Khongwatmai (Tha) 75 70 74 67, Ashley Chesters 67 73 74 72, Jens Dantorp (Swe) 71 73 72 70, Carlos Pigem (Spa) 70 71 69 76, Gary Stal (Fra) 71 73 74 68, Florian Fritsch (Ger) 74 71 70 71

287 Jurrian Van Der Vaart (Ned) 72 71 70 74, Duncan Stewart 71 73 70 73, Joel Stalter (Fra) 68 77 72 70, Daniel Im (USA) 72 73 70 72

288 Stephen Gallacher 72 72 72 72, Haydn Porteous (Rsa) 71 74 71 72, Ryan Evans 76 70 71 71, Oscar Stark (Swe) 73 73 73 69, Oliver Fisher 69 69 75 75

289 Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 69 74 75 71, Zander Lombard (Rsa) 70 69 74 76, Eddie Pepperell 74 72 72 71, Matthias Schwab (Aut) 72 70 76 71

290 Marcus Armitage 71 69 77 73, Niclas Johansson (Swe) 72 74 75 69, Miguel Tabuena (Phi) 71 75 73 71, Robert Dinwiddie 74 70 75 71, Mark Foster 72 74 72 72

291 Paul Waring 69 76 71 75, Oliver Wilson 68 74 76 73, Ricardo Santos (Por) 71 73 75 72, Trevor Fisher Jnr (Rsa) 69 71 76 75, Simon Khan 69 76 74 72

292 Brett Rumford (Aus) 71 75 72 74, Laurie Canter 70 73 74 75, Kristoffer Broberg (Swe) 71 75 73 73, Borja Etchart (Spa) 75 71 75 71, Matthew Southgate 72 74 74 72, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 70 75 74 73

294 Steve Webster 71 75 75 73

296 Richard Bland 74 72 74 76

297 Gary Boyd 73 73 77 74, Charlie Ford 74 72 78 73

Day three report

Chile's Felipe Aguilar remains on course for a wire-to-wire victory in the Lyoness Open after firing a third round of 72 at Diamond Country Club.

Aguilar, who is seeking a third European Tour title, carded four birdies and four bogeys to finish nine under par and hold a two-shot lead for the third day in succession.

Austria's Sepp Straka, who is ranked 1,181st in the world, Sweden's Johan Carlsson and South Africa's Dylan Frittelli share second place on seven under, with England's Richard McEvoy, South Africa's Jbe Kruger, Spain's Carlos Pigem and Finland's Mikko Korhonen on six under.

Aguilar, who has missed the cut in six of his 11 events this season and has a best finish of 41st, made the ideal start with a birdie on the first, only to three-putt the second.

The 42-year-old surged four clear of the field with birdies on the fourth and seventh, but bogeyed the eighth and 14th to allow Straka to get within one thanks to birdies on the 15th and 16th.

Straka's bogey on the 17th and a two-putt birdie on the 15th allowed Aguilar to move three ahead until a bogey on the 18th set up a tense final day.

"Today I think I left many shots on the golf course," Aguilar said.

"I played quite well and I missed a couple of greens, which is normal, and several putts I missed for birdie, so it could have been a little bit better, but I'm still in contention and this is what I wanted on Thursday so we will see what happens.

"I think on the greens I left a couple of shots out there that could have made a huge difference for tomorrow and hopefully tomorrow they will go in."

Straka, who graduated from the University of Georgia in 2015 and usually plays on the Web.com Tour in the United States, carded five birdies and three bogeys in a second consecutive 70.

"I really managed my game well again today," the 24-year-old said. "I had some bogeys but took advantage of the chances that I had and made some birdies out there too.

"It was awesome playing with Bernd (Wiesberger) again, I haven't played with him since I was about 12 years old - he actually made a double-eagle (albatross) on one hole, which was cool.

"I've just got to keep executing my game plan, keep putting my ball in the right spots, make some birdies and put myself in a position where I can actually make a run at it and then see where it goes from there."

McEvoy moved into contention thanks to a bogey-free 67 as he looked to improve on his third-place finish 12 months ago, which was his best result of the entire 2016 season.

"I'm very happy," the former Walker Cup player said. "I like it here, it's a place where I always tend to do well. The course sets up quite well for me and it just proved that over the last few days."

Day two report

England's David Horsey equalled the course record at Diamond Country Club to surge into contention for a fifth European Tour title in the Lyoness Open.

Horsey followed an opening 75 with a flawless 64 to climb more than 100 places up the leaderboard into a tie for fifth on five under par, four shots behind halfway leader Felipe Aguilar of Chile.

Aguilar carded four birdies and two bogeys in a round of 70 to lead by two from Graeme Storm, with Oliver Fisher and Johan Carlsson a shot further back.

Home favourite Bernd Wiesberger birdied the final two holes to join compatriot Sepp Straka, South Africa's Zander Lombard and Horsey on five under.

"It was a little bit chalk and cheese for sure," Horsey said of his opening two rounds. "I played lovely out there, probably as good as I've ever played tee to green.

"I maybe could have holed a couple more putts towards the end and hit a weak wedge into the eighth, my 17th, but on the whole 64 in those conditions I would take every day.

"It felt a bit lower than that with the conditions. Fortunately the course was a little softer this morning than Thursday afternoon, but the breeze was up quite strong, 20-25 mph winds, so I'm very pleased with how I played.

"I've been working on stuff the last couple of months and it's very good when it's good, just inconsistent. When I'm on and can keep in that rhythm and keep trusting it I can shoot scores like that. Hopefully it's a sign of things to come."

Storm, who beat Rory McIlroy in a play-off to win the South African Open in January, carded five birdies and two bogeys in his 69, but admitted he was low on energy in his third event in succession.

"It was really difficult out there, the wind was really blustery and the fairways are firming up and so are the greens," the 39-year-old from Hartlepool said.

"I don't feel as if I'm swinging it great or hitting it great. I feel as though I've run out of gas a bit so I didn't practice yesterday. I'm just trying my best to get round and I'm managing to put a score together and getting a little bit of luck as well."

Aguilar has missed the cut in six of his 11 events this season and has a best finish of 41st, but was pleased to follow up his opening 65 with another sub-par score, despite a bogey on his final hole.

"It's a good score overall," Aguilar said. "I played quite nicely today and it was a lot more difficult than yesterday; the wind picked up after six holes so I think beating the golf course today was a good score.

"I've been playing much better the last eight weeks, I just haven't been able to score and I think the difference is confidence. This week the confidence is much better than any other week. There's still a long way to go and I just want to put myself in contention and we'll see what happens on the weekend."

Day one report

Chile's Felipe Aguilar carded his best round on the European Tour for 17 months to take a two-shot lead on first day of the Lyoness Open in Austria.

The world number 399's seven-under-par 65 - his best effort since the Joburg Open in January 2016 – took him clear of the chasing pack at the Diamond Country Club in Atzenbrugg outside Vienna.

South Africa's Jaco van Zyl, Sweden's Johan Carlsson and England's former Walker Cup winner Ashley Chesters are in joint second with two other Englishmen, Graeme Storm and Oliver Wilson, a further shot behind in a tie for fifth with France's Joel Stalter.

No-one could match the form of the 42-year-old Aguilar, whose last win came in 2014, on the front nine as he raced to five under after just seven holes and a birdie at the 10th put him in the outright lead only for him to bogey the next.

However, he responded with birdies at 13 and 14 but failed to capitalise on the back-to-back par fives and the par-three last but still had enough to pass clubhouse leaders Zyl and Carlsson, later joined by Chesters.

Van Zyl, still searching for his maiden European Tour victory after five runners-up finishes, carded two birdies on the front nine and three after the turn.

A number of players out on the course briefly joined him at the top of the leaderboard but none other than Carlsson of the morning starters could maintain their position.

The Swede had two bogeys and seven birdies, the last at the 18th giving him a share of the lead.

Home favourite and 2012 champion Bernd Wiesberger, who admitted pre-tournament he has eyes on next week's US Open, suffered from a loss of concentration having taken a share of the early lead.

A run of five birdies in six holes from the 15th, having started on the back nine, was ruined by a lost ball off the tee at the fourth and a double-bogey on the eighth after a poor greenside bunker shot saw the Austrian, one of only two players inn the world's top 100 in the field, finish two under.

Luiten fared even worse with a one-over 73 which included an eagle, three birdies and a double-bogey.