SWINDON’S Martin Sell was in upbeat mood after a flawless final round of four-under-par saw him surge up the leaderboard at the Kenya Open yesterday.
An eagle at the 561-yard par-five 15th was the highlight for the Challenge Tour newbie, which followed birdies at the par-five second and the par-four eighth.
That added to a one-under round at Karen Country Club on Saturday saw him finish on three-under overall in a tie for 14th place.
“I’m really happy with this week and the final round in particular,” said Sell, who turned 34 on Saturday.
“I felt I was playing OK this week but just making some silly early-season mistakes, so I’m really happy to have righted the ship somewhat.”
The Wrag Barn pro explained how a change of gameplan at 15 over the weekend had helped him gain two shots at the hole on Sunday.
“Instead of hitting a driver from the tee (as on Thursday and Friday) I hit the three wood, which proved a good move as I was three-under for that hole for the last two rounds,” he said.
“(Yesterday) I hit a four iron from 238 yards to about 18 feet and rolled in a nice right-to-left putt.
“It felt great to hole the putt but I was really just focused on shooting a decent total.”
The tournament was won by Spain’s Jordi Garcia Pinto on 12-under.
Sell, who is sponsored by Medisco Medical Systems and looked after by management company DPM Sport, in next in action a week today.
He will take part in the Jamega Tour’s Winter Series event at High Post Golf Club in Salisbury, before travelling to Qatar to take part in a pro-am.
Meanwhile, Wrag Barn youngster Ben Loughrey missed out on a fourth round at the Portuguese Amateur Championship after a difficult third outing at Montado Golf Resort in Palmela.
Loughrey carded competitive scores of two-over and one-under respectively in his first two rounds, only to shoot five-over in his third on Friday.
He was therefore not one of the 40-plus players to take part in the final 18 holes, with the tournament won by home player Goncalo Pinto on 11-under.
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