Phenomenal 4-hole play-off between Perez and Fox

An exciting final day was on the cards in the 102nd Dutch Open at Bernardus Golf, Cromvoirt (26-29 May 2022) with a whole bunch of players in the running to become the new Champion.  Frenchman Victor Perez and Matt Wallace (England) were poised just one stroke ahead on 10-under par.  Four players hovered on 9-under.  It was anyone’s tournament to win.  A play-off looked highly likely and that is exactly what the European Tour delivered to the Dutch golf fans.  It was a phenomenal 4-hole play-off between New Zealand golfer Ryan Fox and the eventual winner Victor Perez which just kept getting more and more nail-biting.  Yes, we mean, very exciting!

 

Matt Wallace played a solid round of level par 72 on Sunday which left him in a share of 5th place on 10-under at the end of the day.  Victor Perez, however, was in second place on 12-under after 10 holes with three birdies on the front nine plus an unlucky bogey at the 10th.  Fox had the lead on 14-under par after 12 holes with birdies at the 1st, 4th, 11th and an exciting eagle at the par-5 12th.  Yes, Fox was already 5-under par for today.

 

 

Other players in the frame were Adrian Meronk (Poland) on 11-under, Marcel Schneider (Germany) and Wallace on 10-under and Sweden’s Sebastian Söderburg one shot further behind.  The back nine was really hotting-up for the Dutch Open.

 

Fighting for the lead

 

At this point, Ryan Fox was looking strong.  On the 14th hole he holed an enormous putt to get to 6-under for the day and to extend his lead by three shots on Perez.  But the 29-year old Frenchman who won the 2019 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship was hanging in there.  He made a wonderful birdie at the 17th to get a shot closer to Fox.

 

The 35-year old New Zealander had looked just rock solid for the whole round.  A par down the last and the 2022 Dutch Open trophy would have been his along with an invitation for the three top players to compete in the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews in Scotland in July.

 

Fox had an unlucky break at the 18th hole where his drive finished alongside the water-hazard on the right.  He took a penalty drop and one of his next shots then ended up in the bunker.  The result?  Well, a few putts later and Fox had recorded a dreadful seven on the par-5 18th!  Then Fox made his way quietly to the driving range on 13-under par as it was highly likely that someone else would equal his score.

 

Crucial birdie at the 17th

 

Perez was the man who made that crucial birdie at the 17th.  After driving down the last via the first hole, he then played up short with a wedge.  His third shot was launched 134 yards over the pin.  The putt slipped by on the left and so Perez closed out with a par down the last to stay at 13-under par.

 

 

Unbelievable that there should now be a play-off down the 18th hole between Fox and Perez.  Each player had already lost one play-off previously, so this was to be a very serious sort of penalty shoot-out!

 

So when was the last play-off in the Dutch Open?  Well, that was in 2013 when a very proud Dutchman Joost Luiten beat Miguel Ángel Jiménez from Spain.

 

Fox versus Perez in exciting play-off

 

Caddy cars took the players to the 18th tee where Perez hit his second shot just to the right of the green.  He putted a little short while Fox was on the par 5 hole in two shots and had two putts for a birdie.  Perez then calmly holed his 5-metre putt to halve the hole with birdies.  So it was back to the 18th tee again.

 

The New Zealander’s drive ended up on the first hole.  The ball from Perez found the left-hand fairway bunker.  Fox then played a superb shot just over the water but one jump and his ball finished in the sandbunker in front of the green.  The Frenchman played out of the fairway bunker laying-up short of the green.  Fox played out of the bunker but his putt then pulled up short.  Perez then produced another miracle putt from less than two yards for a half.

 

For the third time, the players headed back to the 18th tee in the caddy cars.  Fox hit a great drive and was on the green for two.  He putted dead and made birdie.  Perez fell victim to the same fairway bunker.  He hit the shot a little heavy meaning an even longer shot to the pin.  From about 150 yards, he attacked the shot with a real beauty onto the green and then holed an amazing putt from about 24 feet.

 

New play-off hole

 

It was now time for a new play-off hole: the par-3, 160 yard 17th.  Both players were safely on the green with Perez having the honour of putting first.  He carefully lined-up his 40-foot putt and then there was an enormous cheer as he made birdie.  Fox now desperately needed to hole his putt for the play-off to continue.  Alas, the ball stayed above ground.  Frenchman Victor Perez had come from behind on the final day and holed some awesome putts in the play-off with Ryan Fox to become the splinter-new 2022 Dutch Open Champion.  It really was a breathtaking pinnacle to the 102nd edition – a miracle finish really!  And what a proud moment for the Frenchman.  Victor Perez is only the third Frenchman to have ever won the Dutch Open.  The two previous winners were in 1932 when Auguste Boyer won at The Haagsche and in 1933 when Marcel Dallemange won at the Kennemer.  All I can say is “Formidable”!

 

Whacky sporting coincidences

 

The world of sport on Sunday was the whackiest ever with delays and dramas that simply turned your head upside down.  The Grand Prix in Monaco was delayed by an hour due to extreme storms and flooding.  Dutchman Max Verstappen emerged as number three leaving the podium free for Mexican Red Bull colleague, Sergio Perez.  Yes, amazingly another Mr Perez as winner!

 

Take a look at Dutch football too.  ADO Den Haag played a promotional match against Excelsior on Sunday for a much-coveted place in the First Division.  And what a match it was!  There was not a winner after regular time so they played 15 minutes each way in a play-off.  Still no winner.  An exciting penalty shoot out then saw Excelsior emerge as the winners by a tantalising 8-7.

 

On Saturday evening Liverpool struggled against Real Madrid in the final of the Champions League football in Paris.  A tsunami of false tickets meant the match finally began 36 minutes late amid scenes of anger and frustration as fans tried to invade the grounds.  It was a sad day for Liverpool who missed the much-loved title by 1-0.

 

Add these wild moments to the incredible and whacky four-hole play-off and victory by Frenchman Monsieur Victor Perez in the Dutch Golf Open and you’ll appreciate what a crazy world we live in!  Yes, it’s really, really crazy … but we love it!

 

 

Wendy Hoad

Editor

 

 

SURVIVING THE CUT:  A total of 65 players made the halfway cut which came at 1-under par.  Just in on the cutline were Frenchman Romain Langasque and Bernd Wiesberger from Austria who finished with a 67 final round to secure a share of 24th spot on 3-under par.  Just out of the cut were players like Englishman Andy Sullivan who surprised us all with his hole-in-one in the Dutch Open at the Kennemer a few years ago.  He, together with Belgium’s Thomas Detry and nine other players, carded one stroke too many to play at the weekend.

 

 

MAIN PHOTOGRAPH:  After an exhilerating 4-hole play-off with Ryan Fox, Frenchman Victor Perez stands proudly with the 2022 Dutch Open trophy.  MINIS (l-r): Victor Perez, Ryan Fox, Matt Wallace and Adrian Meronk.  BELOW: Victor Perez.