World number one Kipp Popert won The G4D Open at Woburn. Photo: The R&A
World number one Kipp Popert held his nerve to claim a one-shot victory over Brendan Lawlor at The G4D Open at Woburn.
The top two players on the World Ranking for Golfers with Disability (WR4GD) had a final day showdown in the sun over the Duchess Course with Popert’s closing two-over-par 74 securing a winning total of one-over 217.
Englishman Popert, who has cerebral palsy, was edged out by Lawlor in last year’s inaugural Championship but this time the 25-year-old prevailed to secure a tenth G4D Tour title.
Ireland’s Lawlor, who has a rare condition called Ellis–van Creveld syndrome, put up a stout defence but was made to rue mistakes as he finished with a four-over 76 for 218.
Canadian Chris Willis was third on six-over 222 with the Australian pair of Wayne Perske and Lachlan Wood a stroke further back.
Winner Kipp Popert tees off at the opening hole at The G4D Open at Woburn. Photo: The R&A
Lawlor, 27, held a slender one-shot lead overnight and doubled his advantage in the glorious conditions with a birdie at the opening hole. He found trouble on both par-3s on the front nine, taking a double bogey on the 2nd and the 7th, allowing Popert to lead by one after his birdie on the 8th.
But Popert had difficulties of his own on the demanding par-4 9th for a double bogey, with Lawlor also dropping a shot to leave them both at one-over heading into the back nine.
Popert’s birdie at the 10th and Lawlor’s back-to-back bogeys saw the world’s best player go three clear. A bogey from the leader at the next and brilliant birdies from Lawlor at the 15th and 16th suddenly brought the duo back level, before the world number two caught his approach shot heavy at the 17th which led to an untimely bogey. Popert coolly holed from two feet for a winning par at the last.
Established last year, the Championship – held in partnership between The R&A and the DP World Tour and supported by EDGA (formally the European Disabled Golf Association) – is one of the most inclusive ever staged.
The G4D Open featured nine sport classes across multiple impairment groups, with 80 men and women players of both amateur and professional status, aged 15-68, representing 19 countries.
Daphne van Houten from the Netherlands was the Women’s Champion at The G4D Open at Woburn. Photo: The R&A
With Popert the Men’s Champion, Dutch player Daphne van Houten – the leading woman at 25th on the WR4GD – was crowned the Women’s Champion. Van Houten, 25, who suffers from scoliosis, finished 17 shots clear of England’s Aimi Bullock.
Both men’s and women’s winners were presented with new trophies to reflect the multiple threads woven among the players on their journeys to compete in The G4D Open.
A gross prize was also awarded in each sport class, covering various categories in Standing, Intellectual, Visual and Sitting.
The men’s gross prize winners were as follows:
- Intellectual 1: Cameron Pollard, Australia
- Intellectual 2: Thomas Blizzard, England
- Standing 1: Juan Postigo Arce, Spain
- Standing 2: Kipp Popert, England
- Standing 3: Brendan Lawlor, Ireland
- Sitting 1: Terry Kirby, England
- Sitting 2: Richard Kluwen, The Netherlands
- Visual 1: Paul O’Rahilly, Ireland
- Visual 2: John Eakin, England
The women’s gross prize winners were as follows:
- Intellectual 2: Erika Malmberg, Sweden
- Standing 1: Alessandra Donati, Italy
- Standing 2: Aimi Bullock, England
- Standing 3: Daphne van Houten, The Netherlands
Final scores from the sport classes can be viewed here.
Highlights from the Championship will be aired on Sky Sports Golf from Monday 27 May at 5pm and throughout that week.
The establishment of The G4D Open follows on from the inclusion of the Modified Rules of Golf for Players with Disability in the Rules of Golf and The R&A and USGA’s ongoing administration of the WR4GD.
