Romain Wattel’s maiden European Tour triumph at the KLM Open was a lesson in perseverance.
During Saturday’s third round at The Dutch, I switched over to the golf and caught a glimpse of Wattel hitting an approach shot. Dougie Donnelly took the opportunity to express his surprise that the 26-year-old Frenchman hadn’t broken through in nearly seven years on the Tour given his immense talent.
Despite being on the first page of the leaderboard at the time, there was no evidence in Wattel’s play in 2017 that suggested he’d be in the hunt on Sunday afternoon. Prior to the KLM Open, Wattel’s best finish in 20 events was T-24 at the China Open in April.
Furthermore, he’d only cracked the top-50 once in his last four events. His struggles can be attributed to wayward drives and lukewarm irons. Off the tee, Wattel has hit just 55.90 of Fairways in Regulation, down 4.48 percent on 2016.
Without stating the obvious, playing out of the rough severely affects the amount of control one has with iron shots. As such, Wattel has struggled to find the putting surface as often this season. A Greens in Regulation percentage of 65.82 contributed to a modest scoring average 71.82.
Yet despite the odds being heavily stacked against him, Wattel refused to go away during the final round. Beginning the day one shot behind Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Wattel made a solid start by mixing three birdies on the front nine with a single bogey to remain in touch.
Having not made a bogey for 48 holes, Aphibarnrat opened the door for Wattel with just three holes remaining. A disastrous double-bogey seven on the 15th gifted Wattel a slender one-stroke advantage.
Standing on the par-5 18th with his lead still intact, the Frenchman split the fairway with a 3-wood. Fully aware of his position, Wattel sensibly layed up short of the water guarding the green.
This forced his Thai playing partner to make a play by going for the green in two. Aphibarnrat proceeded to push his 228-yard approach into the water which appeared to all but end his challenge.
The equation was simple for Wattel: get down in three and a maiden European Tour title was his. The nerves of somone trying to win for the first time were on full display when Wattel hit his approach shot heavy and short of the green. I couldn’t bear to watch, fearing that Wattel was unravelling.
Not for the first time on the 72nd hole, Wattel did the sensible thing and opted to lag a putt up to the hole rather than risk playing a chip shot. He could not have hoped for a better result, stroking his ball up to within tap-in range.
Once his playing partners had putted out, Wattel calmly holed his par putt. When the putt dropped, the satisfaction and relief was plain to see. The relief of a man who had begun the week with his playing rights on the line and ended it with a first title at the 187th time of asking.
Not even Wattel himself would have expected to turn his flagging season around at the KLM open of all places. In seven previous appearances, he had posted five missed cuts with his best result being a fifth-placed finish last year.
You never know when your luck is about to change. One week you could be ranked 451st in the world and the next you’re ranked 216th.
Just ask Romain Wattel…
Photo: Thos Caffrey/Ten-Golf
Free Drop Media 