Berkshire’s Barry Lane became the first winner of a European Tour event in Madagascar with victory in the Staysure Tour’s MCB Tour Championship, at International Golf Club Du Rova. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

BERKSHIRE’S Barry Lane became the first winner of the MCB Tour Championship – Madagascar at International Golf Club Du Rova – his second Staysure Tour victory of the season.

The 1993 Ryder Cup player shot a final two under-par 69 as he came from four shots back at the start of play to clinch his eighth victory on the over 50s circuit.

It was his second title of the year, having won the Senior Italian Open in June.

Overnight leader Clark Dennis could not follow his impressive bogey-free second round of 65, as Lane seized the opportunity to win the first stage of the three-legged final MCB Tour Championship series by one stroke.

The 59-year-old made a steady start to his final round with six successive pars before his first birdie of the day came at the par three seventh.

Lane made the turn at level par after dropping a shot on the ninth, but regained his focus on the back nine as he returned to the clubhouse bogey free to post three-under par for 54 holes.

Dennis, playing in the same group as Lane, had trouble on the home stretch as the American dropped six shots in seven holes, eventually finishing in share of fourth place.

The American was going in search of his sixth Staysure Tour title, and second win of the year after victory in the Winstongolf Senior Open, in Germany, in July.

But five-time European Tour winner Lane picked up shots at the 13th and 15th to move into the lead.

With the clubhouse target having been set at two-under by Spaniard Juan Quiros and Frenchman Jean-François Remesy, Lane knew a par on the final hole would seal a memorable victory on a course which tested the players’ patience to the utmost.

His four meant he became the maiden winner of the first European Tour-sanctioned event in Madagascar, the largest island in the Indian Ocean.

“It feels amazing,” said Barry Lane. “I knew I was one ahead coming down 18 and I still tried to hole the birdie putt, but I knew I could two-putt to win, which is always nice.

“I got off to a slow start, but putted beautifully on the first four holes and then started to play quite nicely.

“But I hung in there. Clark had a nightmare on the 15th and that changed things. This game changes so quickly and that’s the nature of it.

“This week was all about mental ability. Whatever happened you had to accept it and try and do the best you could.

“Mentally, I thought I was amazing this week, because not once in 54 holes did I get annoyed or upset with any shot. I just played and got on with it.

“It’s such a difficult golf course because it’s quite bouncy and if you miss the greens it is so difficult to get up and down.

“During the week I didn’t feel like I was flushing it, but I tried to hit every fairway and every green to give myself a chance.

“It’s great that at 59 years old I am still winning, having won the Senior Italian Open earlier in the year when I was 58.

“I’m very happy to win at 59 and may it continue for another few years,” Lane added.

Quiros and Remesy finished in a share of second place, following their final rounds of 69.

Dennis, meanwhile, carded a round of 75 to join Wales’ Stephen Dodd and Sussex’s first round leader Gary Evans in fourth, two strokes behind Lane.

Home favourite Jean Baptiste Ramarozatovo, who was cheered on by the home crowd, recorded a round of 69 to take a share of seventh.

The three-time winner of the Madagascan Open in the late 1990s finished alongside Argentinian Mauricio Molina, Kent’s Peter Wilson and South African duo James Kingston and Chris Williams on level-par.

Lane now in contention for No. 1

THE 675 Order of Merit points won by Lane leaves the Englishman in with a real chance of claiming the John Jacobs Trophy and being crowned the European Seniors No. 1 for a first time.

With two events to go in the Seychelles and Mauritius, Barry Lane is third on the Staysure Tour Order of Merit, with Wales’ Phillip Price, who finished 18th in Madagascar, on 2,377 points, with Lancashire’s David Shacklady in second 2,033.5 points.

This week’s MCB Tour Championship – Seychelles gets under way on Thursday this week, instead of the traditional Friday start.

•For final scores from the MCB Tour Championship – Madagascar click here.

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Sussex’s Gary Evans is the first round leader at the MCG Tour Championship – Madagascar after a fine round of 68 left him with a one-shot lead on three-under par at International Golf Club Du Rova. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

SUSSEX’S Gary Evans carded an opening round of 68 at the MCB Tour Championship – Madagascar to lead by one shot as the Staysure Tour held a tournament on the Indian Ocean island for the first time in its 27-year history.

Evans rose to the top after his three-under par round saw him finish the day one shot ahead Spain’s José Manuel Carriles, Stephen Dodd, from Wales, Madagascan Jean Baptiste Ramarozatovo and France’s Jean Pierre Sallat.

Evans, who has recorded three top 10s in his rookie season on the Staysure Tour, made a quick start with a birdie on the first hole.

And the player, often regarded as the best Englishman never to have won on the European Tour, bounced back from his bogey on the second with three consecutive gains, including two on par threes, ahead of the turn.

A dropped shot on the 10th was quickly recovered on the par three 11th before he made back-to-back birdies on the par four 15th and par three 16th.

Even with a double bogey on his penultimate hole following a difficult lie in the bunker, Evans was more than happy to sign for a round of 68 and take the lead after round one.

“If you had offered me that score at the beginning of the day, I would have snapped your hand off,” said Evans, who represented Ascot’s Mill Ryde GC for many years as a European Tour player.

“I’m very happy with that and can’t complain at all,” added Evans, who shared the Brabazon Trophy – at the English Amateur Open Strokeplay Championship – back-to-back in 1990 and 1991.

“It is an extremely difficult golf course and it is hard to be aggressive, but I actually played really nicely, especially on the par threes.

“I hit a lot of good shots into the par threes which made life a lot easier. I played the rest of the course quite nicely, but I played those holes really well,” said Evans, who grew up playing as a junior at Worthing GC.

“I could’ve birdied all five of the par threes. On the fourth hole I hit a seven-iron into five feet – and missed the putt. All of my approaches were close and none of them were long putts.

“I drove the ball well and made a couple of small mistakes. It was a shame on 17 because I hit a perfect drive and then hit my wedge on-line with the flag.

“It landed on the front edge of the green and span back, as opposed to going forward, landing in a really bad lie in the bunker.

“You are going to have holes that will bite you because it’s the nature of the golf course. It’s all about patience and a clear mind and executing your game as best as you can.”

Hot on Evans’ heels are a group of four players at two-under, including local professional Ramarozatovo, who became the first Madagascan player to tee it up in a Staysure Tour event.

The island star held the lead during the opening round following three birdies and an eagle, but a double bogey on the 17^th saw him drop back to a share of second place.

Madagascar became the 46th country to host a Staysure Tour tournament since its inception in 1992 as the first stage of the three-legged MCB Tour Championships got under way at International Golf Club Du Rova.

The second round of the MCB Tour Championship – Madagascar gets under way at 8am local time with Evans teeing off at 10:45am.

•For lives scoring in Madagascar click here.

Evans was tipped as the ‘next Faldo’

GARY Evans was tipped by many as the new Faldo when he burst on the amateur scene a decade after the Hertfordshire player became youngest-ever English Amateur Champion at 17, in 1975.

Evans won the Carris Trophy – the English U18 Strokeplay Championship in 1986 – and played in the 1991 Walker Cup for Great Britain and Ireland against the USA, at Portmarnock, with the American team containing Phil Mickelson.

Evans beat David Duval in the Saturday singles, and partnered Andrew Coltart and Jim Payne in the foursomes in a GB&I team that also contained Ireland’s future Ryder Cup players Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley.

Evans spent several years coaching after quitting the European Tour back in 2006 after shoulder and back injuries, which came on top of a persistent wrist injury.

He appeared in a total of 353 tournaments between 1992 and 2006 earning nearly €3.4million finishing in the top three five times.

The post Evans hits front in MCB Tour Championship – Madagascar as local Ramarozatovo fires appeared first on Golf North.

Wales’ Phillip Price is looking for a strong start to the MCB Tour Championship series in Madagascar to cement his place in the battle to win the John Jacobs Trophy on the Staysure Tour’s Order of Merit. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

MADAGASCAR will host its first European Tour-sanctioned tournament when the MCB Tour Championship – Madagascar takes place from November 29-December 1.

It will be the first Staysure Tour event to take place on the world’s fourth largest island, and the 46th country the over-50s tour will have visited since its inception in 1992.

Phillip Price, who currently leads the Order of Merit, is hoping to claim his first John Jacobs Trophy at the conclusion of the year.

The MCB Tour Championship – Madagascar marks the first event of the MCB Tour Championship final series, which will see the Staysure Tour return to Seychelles for a second successive season from December 5-7, before the regular season-finale takes place in Mauritius, from December 13-15.

The Welshman, who won the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship at Kent’s London Club, in August, will make his Madagascan debut at International Golf Club Du Rova, hoping to continue his good form which sees him top the Staysure Order of Merit.

With 10 top 10s to his name and a 366-point lead over Lancashire’s David Shacklady, who is Price’s closet Order of Merit challenger in the field this week, the 2002 Ryder Cup hero knows he needs to play well in the lucrative final three events of the Staysure Tour campaign.

“Everybody wants to finish first and I’ve played pretty well all season,” Price said.

“There are a lot of challengers close behind me and there are a lot of points to play for over the next three weeks.

“If one of the top six win a couple of events, then I’m going to have to deliver something very good.

“I have a good feeling from last year’s MCB Tour Championship, where I had a second and fourth place finish.

“Madagascar is a new location for me, but I like this part of the world. I’m very familiar with Seychelles and Mauritius and hopefully this week is going to be equally as good for me.”

There is only one man knows who knows the layout at International Golf Club Du Rova, local professional Jean Baptiste Ramarozatovo, who will be making his debut on the over-50s circuit.

Meanwhile the remaining 47 players in the field will hope their pre-tournament practice pays off when the action starts.

Price added: “Marc Farry and his organisation have done a great job to get us here, making everything work properly from the hotel to transportation and we’re lucky to be having a tournament here.

“The course is in good condition, but it is very challenging off the tee, especially around the greens. There are many banks off the greens and a lot of them lead to deep bunkers.”

The first round of the MCB Tour Championship – Madagascar will begin at 8am local time, with Price teeing off at 9:17am. Madagascar is three hours ahead of GMT.

•For live scoring in the MCB Tour Championship – Madagascar click here.

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