Philipp Mejow seals playoff-victory with an eagle
ALTEPRO Trophy 2021
German Philipp Mejow secured himself the victory of the ALTEPRO Trophy 2021 with a fantastic eagle on the second extra hole of a three men play-off. After the tournament in Kynžvart, Czech Republic, had to be shortened to 36 holes due to heavy rain, the professional from Berlin, his compatriot Nick Bachem and Frenchman Lucas Sapin had shared first place with 3 under par. The trio completed the first part of extra time with par before Mejow unleashed a 270-metre drive, delivering his tee shot directly onto the green of the 10th hole and then holing the putt from seven metres.
Kynžvart/Czech Republic – “That was my second victory on the Pro Golf Tour in a row!”, Philipp Mejow stated with satisfaction as he accepted the winner’s trophy and the 5,000 euros prize money cheque. And in fact: The 33-year-old last teed off at the Castanea Resort Championship 2020 and promptly won last year’s season finale in Adendorf. The Challenge Tour player competed in the Czech Republic “to pick up some world ranking points,” which he also achieved straight away by winning the tournament.
After a rather unspectacular first round with 71 strokes, Mejow was two points behind the Belgian Yente Van Doren after the first day of the tournament, who signed a strong 69 on the par-72 course at the Kynžvart Golf Club. Heavy rainfall on the second day caused the complete cancellation of the round planned at the Sokolov Golf Club, where the greens were under water and the bunkers overflowing. The tour returned to Kynžvart as scheduled on the third day of the ALTEPRO Trophy 2021 to play the final round of the tournament, which was shortened to 36 holes.
With a birdie on hole 1, Philipp Mejow got off to a perfect start, followed by more birdies on holes 7, 8 and 10. “I played well today, focused purely on my shots and didn’t look at the scores. Without my two needless three putts on 14 and 18, I wouldn’t have had to go into the play-off,” said the eventual champion. “It was not easy to keep my concentration level high during the 45 minutes until the play-off could start.”
A 270-metre drive onto the green
Which the veteran did manage well though when he first held par like Bachem and Sapin and finally sent the tee shot directly onto the green at the second extra hole, a 277-metre par 4, where he holed the putt in for an eagle. “Today’s round was really good and it was fun to play on the Pro Golf Tour again,” said Mejow.
The next opportunity to do so is in the Netherlands: from 2 to 4 September, the premiere of the FaberExposize Gelpenberg Open 2021 at DGC de Gelpenberg in Aalden will see another 30,000 euros in prize money at stake.