Swiss Challenge 2021 - Rusch and Girrbach in Top-20
04.10.2021
With a final round of 69 strokes, Marcus Helligkilde secures victory in the Swiss Challenge at Golf Saint Apollinaire. The Dane wins with a total score of 25 under par. Benjamin Rusch and Joel Girrbach finish the tournament in 15th and 19th place respectively.
It would almost have been a fairytale if Marcel Schneider had been able to win the Swiss Challenge in 2021 after 2018; with his third victory of the season, the German would have been promoted directly to the European Tour. That will now have to wait after the 31-year-old disenchanted himself on the last six holes on Saturday afternoon and was also "only" able to sign a 69 on Sunday. 18 under par meant tenth final place for Schneider. The battle for the winner's cheque of 32,000 euros was an (almost) purely Danish affair on the "Fruit Garden" of Golf Saint Apollinaire on Sunday. Marcus Helligklide started the final round at 22 under par and three strokes ahead of compatriot Nicolai Kristensen. The 24-year-old Helligkilde, who had already won the Finnish Challenge at the beginning of August with a total score of 23 under par (after four rounds), did not remain faultless on Sunday in Alsace, but four birdies with only one bogey meant a 69 on the scorecard in the end - and a total score of 25 under par for the four tournament rounds. He thus defended a one-stroke lead over Kristensen; the latter played five birdies and 13 pars, but had to share second place with England's Jonathan Thomson, who also came through Sunday bogey-free and even scored six birdies. The second Challenge Tour title is an early birthday present for Helligkilde, the Dane celebrates his 25th birthday on Tuesday (5 October).
28 birdies and an eagle from Rusch
On Sunday, some Swiss players also had reason to smile. Benjamin Rusch, who alternated between highs and lows at the Swiss Challenge 2021, put in a good performance in the final round and carded a 66 to move back into the top-20 of the rankings. The eight birdies on the final day were offset by a single double bogey. On hole 8, the Thurgau native had hit his tee shot into the bushes left of the fairway and had to declare the ball unplayable. In the end, however, he was satisfied with the week: "All in all, it was a good tournament. I played solidly, made a total of 28 birdies and one eagle in the four tournament rounds, which is absolutely super," said the 32-year-old. After a couple of difficult weeks, he says there is now an upward trend again. "I hope I can build on that. I'm happy and hope it continues like this now." However, he simply made too many mistakes at the Swiss Challenge to play at the top. With a total score of 271 strokes (17 under par), he is ranked 15th.
Joel Girrbach, a club colleague, follows in 19th place. The Swiss Challenge winner from 2017 had shown off in a big way for 15 holes on Saturday and raised the hopes of the public for another home victory before two mistakes stopped him. On Sunday, the 28-year-old did not really get going for a long time despite birdies on the one and the four. "It was a somewhat laborious round today - I had to stay patient for a long time," said Girrbach. The patience paid off on the back nine - bogey-free with three birdies were a conciliatory finish. With a total score of 272 strokes, he ranked 19th in the top 20. "All in all, a very good event; unfortunately, I lost out on a top 10 ranking yesterday on the last holes," he concluded.
Taking a lot of positives back home
The third best Swiss in the tournament, Jeremy Freiburghaus, needed one stroke more than Girrbach. The man from Grisons played solidly all week and scored very regularly - 69, 68, 68 and also on the final day 68 strokes were on his scorecards. "I am quite happy with the tournament," said the 25-year-old on Sunday evening. Of course, there would always be more in it, but he takes the positives from the week with him: "Few mistakes off the tee throughout the week, plus my irons were much better today. The putting was also good, unfortunately the putts didn't fall in the final round. But I am happy with the week." Rank 25 for the man from Graubünden.
Mathias Eggenberger's result, on the other hand, is somewhat mixed: "Actually a good week, the long game was solid and the chipping was where it should be. But at the weekend, there were simply no putts. Unfortunately." Nevertheless, Eggenberger said he could take a lot of positive things from this week in Alsace. With a total score of 283 strokes (5 under par), the 29-year-old is in 61st place, which he shares with Perry Cohen. The 25-year-old had attracted attention with a card of 66 in the opening round, but was unable to keep up the pace on the following days with rounds of 71, 75 and again 71 strokes.
Cédric Gugler was the only amateur to make it to the final rounds of the weekend. He did this with an explosion on Friday, where he played seven birdies and made it to the top half of the leaderboard with a 67. Things didn't go quite as well over the weekend with rounds of 78 and 74. For the 21-year-old, the Swiss Challenge 2021 was nevertheless a valuable experience - and 18 birdies in four tournament rounds at the second-highest European level is quite a remarkable achievement.
Article retrieved from www.swissgolf.ch
Photo: Benjamin Rusch by Emanuel Stotzer Fotografie
