Tour pro hits painful shank en route to maiden DP World Tour win
DP World Tour pro Simon Forsstrom had a wild up-and-down at the par-5 5th Sunday in Belgium.
Sweden's Simon Forsstrom had a brief stumble with a shank at the 5th hole Sunday in Belgium en route to his maiden DP World Tour win.
Forsstrom, 34, held the lead heading into Sunday's final round, and was able to hold on despite some stumbles along the way.
Simon Forsström wins in Belgium #SoudalOpen pic.twitter.com/Z42TKJhPeC
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 14, 2023
Forsstrom was playing in the final pairing with Belgium's own Thomas Detry, 30, who was the top-ranked Belgian heading into this week's Soudal Open at No. 90.
Detry, born in Uccle, Belgium, had recorded a a 5-under par 66 Saturday to find a spot in the final pairing with Forsstrom for Sunday's round.
However, their rounds went in opposite directions.
Despite his shank on the 5th hole and a double-bogey 6 on the par-4 10th, Forsstrom went on to shoot a 2-under par 69 Sunday for his maiden DP World Tour victory.
Forsstrom turned professional back in 2009 and only had one win on the Challenge Tour from back in 2016 before Sunday in Belgium.
He's now projected to move up 54 spots in the Race to Dubai Rankings into No. 17.
His victory may even help him get onto captain Luke Donald's radar as the countdown to the Ryder Cup in September continues.
Though, he might hope Donald doesn't see one shot on the 5th hole at Rinkven International Golf Club.
Forsstrom's ball was laying in the rough, just a few feet behind a bunker and left of the fairway at the par 5.
He pulled out his five-wood, which may have been the right call, had he made solid contact with the ball.
Instead, his tough lie and poor contact resulted in the ball moving just a few feet in front of him into the left fairway bunker.
Trouble for Simon Forsström on the par-5 5th
But the Swede gets up-and-down to save his par and maintain his lead #SoudalOpen pic.twitter.com/FbRX5F8VQS— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 14, 2023
Miraculously, Forsstrom was still able to get up-and-down for par, which was crucial in the long run as he defeated fellow Swede, Jens Dantorp by just one stroke at 17-under par.
Forsstrom's playing partner Sunday, home-crowd favourite Detry, did not have the same luck as his fellow European Ryder Cup hopeful.
From 39 feet!
Simon Forsström opens up a two-shot lead in style. #SoudalOpen pic.twitter.com/tsKha98M0K— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 14, 2023
Detry shot a 2-over par 73 to fall back into a tie for seventh. Still, he earned low-Belgian honours at 12-under par.
This was only Detry's second DP World Tour event in the current season, as he's primarily played over in the States on the PGA Tour.
He's set to make the trip across the Atlantic to Rochester, New York for next week's PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club.
Thorbjorn Olesen finished alone in third with a 5-under par 66 Sunday to move to 14-under par for the tournament.
Mike Lorenzo-Vera, Matthew Southgate, and Alexander Bjork rounded out the top five in a tie for fourth at 13-under par.
Lead Image: DP World Tour/Twitter
