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Jarmo Sandelin shoots 65 to win first Staysure title at MCB Tour Championship

2019 MCB Tour Championship - Mauritius winner Jarmo Sandellin

Sweden’s Jarmo Sandelin won his first Staysure Tour title at the MCB Tour Championship at Mauritius’ Constance Belle Mare Plage. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

JARMO Sandelin recorded a final round of 65 to win his first Staysure Tour title at the MCB Tour Championship – Mauritius… the final event of the 2019 season.

The Swede came from four strokes behind at the beginning of play to clinch his maiden over 50s title, at Constance Belle Mare Plage, where Kent’s Roger Chapman, Colin Montgomerie and Tom Lehman – all Senior Majors winners – have been crowned winners in the past.

It was Sandelin’s first victory since the 2001 BMW Asian Open, thanks to a brilliant seven-under par final round to overhaul overnight leader James Kingston and claim a three-shot victory.

And it meant Sandelin had become the 12th player to win on the European Tour, the European Challenge Tour and the Staysure Tour.

Sandelin started his final 18 holes of the season with four birdies in his opening six holes, including back-to-back gains at the third and fourth.

He reached the turn at two-under after a double bogey at the par-four ninth but responded in stunning style on the back nine.

The 1999 Ryder Cup player made five consecutive birdies from the 11th to the 15th, racing up the leaderboard and passing 36-hole leader Kingston.

Even when Jarmo dropped a shot at the par-three 17th, he responded with a birdie at the 54th hole to set the clubhouse target at 12-under.

With the South African unable to reach the score, Sandelin was crowned the winner of the MCB Tour Championship – Mauritius.

“It’s been a long time since I last won,” said Sandelin. “There has been a lot of practise balls, a lot of tears, and a lot of hard work in the gym.

“It’s nice to final come through and win, especially in Mauritius as it’s the final tournament of the year.

“It was the start I wanted to have. I dropped two shots on the ninth after hitting it into the water, but I bounced back with five straight birdies from 11 to 15, so that was the key.

“I felt after my fifth birdie in a row that I might have a good chance to win,” said the 52-year-old, from Stockholm, who was born in Finland, but grew up in Sweden.

“I then knew that if I made a final birdie at the last then I had a good chance of winning the title.

“All the players on the Staysure Tour are so good and I had a fantastic feeling this week and now I know that my game is good enough to win tournaments.

“I also had my son, Lukas, on the bag, which makes it an even better feeling,” said Sandelin.

Kingston carded a level par round to finish second, but the result was enough to see him crowned King of the Swing as the top-performer in the Indian Ocean – following a share of seventh place in Madagascar and a runner-up finish in the Seychelles.

A stroke behind Kingston in a tie for third was a group of three players, including Frenchman, Jean-François Remesy, who led after the first round, defending champion Clark Dennis and Wales’ Phillip Price.

The latter was crowned Staysure Tour No. 1 and awarded the 2019 John Jacobs Trophy at the conclusion of play after heading the Staysure Tour Order of Merit.

Spaniard Carl Suneson finished in sixth place while fellow countryman Miguel Angel Martin, Lancashire’s David Shacklady, Denmark’s Steen Tinning and Scot Paul Lawrie, were a shot back in a share of seventh.

Former Open Champion Lawrie, who made four birdies in his closing five holes, finished 11th on the Order of Merit, and in doing so, won the 2019 Rookie of the Year award.

•For the final results in the MCB Tour Championship – Mauritius click here.

Jarmo Sandelin 2019 Farmfoods British Par 3 Championship winner

Jarmo Sandelin after his win at the British Par 3 Championship at Nailcote Hall

Sandelin’s Champions Tour Q-School success

SANDELIN also arrived on the Indian Ocean island in good form, having won the PGA Champions Tour Qualifying School First Stage Qualifier, at Tampa Bay Golf Club, in Florida, in November.

At the final stage just over a week ago, he finished in a share of 15th – only the top five, including Sweden’s former European No. 1 Robert Karlsson – earned a card for the 2020 Champions Tour.

But Sandelin can enter open qualifying events automatically on the USA’s over 50s tour by finishing inside the top 30 at TPC Scottsdale, where Surrey’s Andrew Raitt, finished tied 27th alongside former US Open winner Michael Campbell, who failed to earn a card in his rookie season.

Sandelin also won the Farmfoods British Par 3 Championship at Warwickshire’s Nailcote Hall, in August – which is played over 36 holes against a field of European Challenge Tour and Staysure players – plus some with recent European Tour experience.

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