Gallacher Returns To Winners' Circle

Stephen Gallacher is celebrating his first victory on the European Tour in over five years following his win at the Hero Indian Open.

The 44-year-old Scot went into Sunday’s final round at DLF Golf and Country Club sitting three shots off the lead and his chances of claiming overall glory looked to have disappeared when he quadruple-bogeyed the par-four seventh.

However, the windy conditions in New Delhi meant scoring was difficult for all the leading contenders and Gallacher was still just about in contention as he stood at the 15th tee.

The 2014 Ryder Cup star needed a near-perfect end to his round to give himself a chance of victory and that’s exactly what he produced, birdieing three of his final four holes to sign for a score of 71 that took him onto nine-under-par for the tournament.

That proved to be enough to hand Gallacher a one-shot victory, with Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura finishing as his nearest rival on eight-under, while overnight leaders Julian Suri and Callum Shinkwin both endured rounds to forget as they finished three and four shots off the pace respectively.

For Gallacher, it is his first victory on the European Tour since he defended his Omega Dubai Desert Classic title in February 2014 and he was pleased to return to the winners’ circle, especially as he feels he is entering the ‘twilight’ of his career.

Gallacher told the European Tour website: “When you’re 44 you’re in the sort of twilight so it’s a big win for me. It was good to finish it out the way I did it, three under for the last four is a great way to finish.”