Zimbabwean Scott Vincent claimed a historic victory in the first International Series England event at Slaley Hall with a final round 66 as the Asian Tour celebrated its first visit to the UK.
Scott, who won the Mizuno Open on the Japan Tour a week earlier, finished on 12 under-par, one shot ahead of Australia’s Travis Smyth, who bogeyed the 72nd hole.
“It’s amazing,” said 30-year-old Scott, who collected $360,000 for the win and became the first Zimbabwean to win on the Asian Tour. “This is the tour I started on, so obviously it’s nice to get the first win out here. It has felt like a long time but my game is trending in a good direction. It got very close there at the end, but – just one of those things – it kind of fell in my favour and I’m very thankful.”
The victory secured Scott his place at the first LIV golf event at the Centurion Club, where he will be joined by his caddie – John McStravick – an employee in golf operations at the Slaley Hall resort.
Graeme McDowell, who made his professional debut at Slaley Hall and finished in T15 in the event, said: “It was my first time back here after I made my pro debut in 2002 and was cool to kind of complete the circle and come back here 20 years later. The golf course was fantastic, I’ve been really impressed by it.”
