Brendan Lawlor finishes two shots clear of world No 1 Kipp Popert to win inaugural G4D Open at Woburn; Popert's hopes ended by final-ole bogey; tournament saw 80 disabled male and female players complete across various sport classes
Friday 12 May 2023 21:14, UK
Brendan Lawlor held off world No 1 Kipp Popert to win the inaugural G4D Open at Woburn by two shots on Friday.
The Irishman, ranked one place below England's Popert at No 2 in the standings for disabled players, bogeyed his opening three holes on the final day to temporarily lose his lead but then moved ahead on the back nine.
Lawlor saw a two-shot advantage cut to one after bogeying the 16th and the gap remained just one stroke after both players parred the 17th - before Popert's hopes were ended when he found the trees at 18 and subsequently dropped a shot, his third blemish across his final six holes.
Lawlor's par left him three over for the event and the day, with Popert two back on five over for the tournament after a four-over final round as he missed out on a sixth victory on the G4D Tour in the 2022/23 season.
Spain's Juan Postigo Arce, who was born with one leg, finished third on eight over par.
A field of 80 male and female amateur and professional golfers took part this week, competing across sport classes which cover various categories in standing, intellectual, visual and sitting.
Popert was born with a form of cerebral palsy called spastic diplegia, while Lawlor has a rare condition called Ellis-van Creveld syndrome, characterised by a shorter stature and shorter limbs.
Lawlor said: "It's just an unbelievable feeling. It hasn't really sunk in yet. I've put so much hard work into my game the last few months and it's been trending really well.
"I'm proud of myself just to get it done, really happy. I didn't hit it well all day but I made a lot of clutch putts on the front nine.
"It's been an incredible week. The volunteers, The R&A, DP World Tour, EDGA, everybody involved has put in so much work to get this championship done. Every player here, we felt like royalty this week.
"Hopefully this is the start and we're going to have many more of these major events. Disability golf is definitely on the way up."
Popert added: "It was great fun. Brendan deserves it and I couldn't be happier for him. Basically it was just one of those days where Brendan beat me. I'm still very happy."
American Kim Moor, was the leading female player, finishing four shots ahead of Ireland's Fiona Gray.
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