Petrozzi wins Welsh title by nine shots

England’s Gian-Marco Petrozzi has won the Welsh open stroke play championship in great style – leading from wire to wire and finishing nine shots clear of the field.

The 20-year-old from Trentham in Staffordshire was 13-under for the 72 holes at The Vale. He set out his stall with an opening round of seven-under 66 and added scores of 69, 70, 74.

“I’m chuffed,” said Petrozzi, an England A squad player. “A really good first round put me in a great position and then I just used my experience and played solid golf from there.”

His game was in great shape all round, but his putter was especially hot and helped keep him far in front of the field. He led by four after the first round, seven after the second and nine after 54 holes.

In the final two rounds, the putter helped him make a lot of par saves. “I didn’t strike the ball as good as the first two days but I kept it steady and putted really well, mopped up things well.

“I just tried to play my own game and not look at anyone else. I carried on doing everything I’d done over the first two days and it just took care of itself.”

This is Petrozzi’s first big win and he commented: “It’s been coming. All of last season and the start of this season I’ve been playing good golf. I knew I had it in there, I just needed to prove to myself that I could cross the line.

“I’m over the moon with this and hopefully it catches the eye of the Walker Cup selectors. That’s my goal for the end of the year and hopefully this will put my name in the hat.”

The runner up was another Staffordshire player, Jack Gaunt (Drayton Park), who finished on four-under, a stroke ahead of Walker Cup squad player Jack Davidson of Wales.

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