Former Ryder Cup star Jamie Donaldson has secured victory at the Champions UK plc European Senior Masters, in association with Equals Money, earning his first Legends Tour title in just his second start.
Donaldson carded a superb closing 67, six under par, at the Grand Hyatt La Manga Club Golf & Spa in Murcia, finishing on 11-under for the week and edging the field by one shot.
It marks the Welshman’s first win since joining the senior ranks, following a solid debut at the Sergio Melpignano Senior Italian Open.
“It’s fantastic. I’ve had a great week, it’s been really good fun,” said Donaldson. “It was nice to play so well today and to birdie the last to just edge them by a couple of shots.”
Starting from the penultimate group, the Welshman set the tone early, rolling in a ten-footer for birdie at the second, one of the course’s toughest par threes, before erasing the memory of yesterday’s bogey on the fourth.
“I birdied the second, which is a strong par three, hit a really good shot in there and managed to make about a ten-footer, which was big for momentum,” he explained. “Then I birdied the fourth, which was satisfying because yesterday I’d pulled it out of bounds and made a bogey.
“It felt great to get over those demons, hit a really good tee shot and made four there. That gave me a strong start.”
Donaldson continued to apply pressure around the turn, with a highlight moment coming at the ninth.
“Nine was a good one. I hit a great tee shot, but it ran too far through the dogleg and finished under a tree. I tried to hit a low punch cut around it and onto the green, that was one of the shots of the day.”
His confidence built on the back nine, where a long birdie putt on the 15th pushed him into a share of the lead. A bogey at 17, however, left no room for error coming up the last.
“I holed a massive putt on 15, that’s one of the tighter, tougher holes coming home,” he said. “I was disappointed with the bogey on 17. I hit a decent shot but needed it to draw just a fraction more. It caught the bunker, and I couldn’t quite get up and down.”
With challengers in position down the final fairway, Donaldson produced his best drive of the day into a shifting wind. A solid five-iron found the heart of the green, and after leaving his first putt four feet short, he calmly rolled in the birdie to seal the title.
“There’s trouble both left and right, but I hit probably my best drive of the day,” Donaldson said. “I hit a solid five-iron to the middle of the green. I didn’t hit the first putt that well and left myself four feet, but I got the pace right and holed it. That birdie on the last was enough to just pip the lads. It felt great to finish that way and get the win.”
The victory comes only two weeks into Donaldson’s Legends Tour campaign, one he says has already shown the level of competition he now faces.
“We definitely are [competitive]. I’m competitive in everything I do, and it’s great to get this victory only two weeks into my senior tour campaign,” he said. “There are so many great players out here. They might not hit it as long as the guys on the DP World Tour, but they still play really solid golf and are excellent scorers.
“Scoring last week was very low, and I realised I’d have to play some seriously good golf if I wanted to start winning tournaments out here. Luckily, I managed to do that this week. It’s always special to win at any level, but to do it so soon after starting on the senior tour makes it even better.”
The final scoreboard read:
1 Jamie Donaldson: -11
2 Mikael Lundberg: -10, Van Phillips: -10, Thomas Gögele: -10
5 Matthew Cort: -8, Simon Griffiths: -8, Michael Campbell: -8
To find out more about the Champions UK plc European Senior Masters, in association with Equals Money, visit: https://europeanseniormasters.com/
