Weekend Winners: Wiesberger rules China, Chappell breaks duck

European Tour: Shenzhen International – Bernd Wiesberger

A dramatic closing day in China saw Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger come through in a play-off with Tommy Fleetwood after hitting a spectacular approach in extra time from this position pictured above.

In normal time the pair had very different rounds, Wiesberger having a two-birdie 71 while England’s Fleetwood finished with a nine-under 63 after a chip-in eagle on the front nine and a hat-trick of birdies from the 15th.

Wiesberger’s opening rounds of 67 and 65 gave him the lead all week and he could have won it at the 72nd hole after nearly hitting the pin. Not long after he did secure a birdie after a brave – or pushed – tee shot left him on the bank. A five-footer gave him his fourth win on his 200th start.

Congratulations @BWiesberger.

Winner of the #ShenzhenIntl, beating Fleetwood on the 1st play-off hole. ? pic.twitter.com/MOya0STa4o

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) April 23, 2017

In-form Ross Fisher (68) held a share of the lead on the 18th tee but a three-putt bogey saw him fall out of the play-off while South Africa’s George Coetzee also shared the lead after birdies at 16 and 17 but then ran up an eight after twice finding the water. Frenchman Grégory Bourdy birdied the 16th and 17th to finish alongside Fisher at 15 under and one back.

“I’m feeling a bit relieved now I have to say,” Wiesberger said. “I’ve had a stretch of really good events the last couple of months and it’s really nice to have a trophy again.

“We have really good players out here, all up for it, playing well and throwing a lot at me. At the end of the day I’m just glad I got myself into the spot where I could play for the title. I just wanted to get off to a good start and show them that I’m up for it and I did, scrapped around a little bit, had a couple of near misses with good looks at it early on. It could have gotten to me but I stayed calm, played on decently.”

Fleetwood added: “I’ve played well all week and I was really disappointed, it was stressing me out that I couldn’t really get anything in the hole.

“Today, just a few putts went in and I kept it going all the way through and it was a good time to shoot a 63. As a goal I wanted to be one under for every three holes, that was 66 and if I beat that I thought I’ll have had a good day and a good week.”

PGA Tour: Texas Open – Kevin Chappell

On his 180th Tour start, Kevin Chappell birdied the last from around eight feet to pip Brooks Koepka to the Texas Open title.

Koepka shot a best-of-the day 65 to move from 10th spot to the clubhouse lead before Chappell, who turned pro in 2008 and was seventh two weeks ago at Augusta, also made four at the 72nd hole after making an emotional closing putt.

Euphoria! So many emotions.@Kevin_Chappell wins the @ValeroTXOpen!

His first PGA TOUR victory. ?#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/ok9w0AwtXY

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 23, 2017

Kevin Tway and Tony Finau tied for third two shots back while Branden Grace, in the final group with Chappell, dropped back into 10th spot.

“It’s a big relief,” the 30-year-old Chappell told reporters after the round. “There’s been quite the monkey on my back for some time now about getting that first win. And to take that off and not have to answer those questions anymore is nice.”