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Magnifique! Victor Perez becomes first French winner of the Alfred Dunhill Links

ST ANDREWS, September 29, 2019 – Magnifique! Victor Perez becomes first French winner of the Alfred Dunhill Links

Victor Perez became the first French winner of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship after one of the most exciting finishes in the history of the event, winning by one shot from England’s Matthew Southgate at St Andrews.

Although from Haute-Pyrenees in southern France, Perez has been living in Dundee, just 20 minutes away, for the last 18 months with his girlfriend Abigail who is a dental student there. She ran on to the 18th green to congratulate him.

Perez said: “It was a great win for me, and it’s showed me that I can do it. Now the question is: how much can I replicate that moving forward. Obviously when you win, you want to ride the wave a little bit.

“Obviously living in Dundee makes it more special. I think there were a number of reasons why I came here. I think that the culture of golf in Scotland should make almost every golfer want to come here, if you’re in Continental Europe. The people here love golf, it’s all about golf, it’s just the passion for the game.”

For 18 holes Southgate and Perez had slugged their way around the Old Course, but in the end, as so often in big championships at St Andrews, it came down to the 17th, the Road Hole, where Southgate had a bogey five to Perez’s four which opened up a decisive one-shot gap.

Earlier the par five 14th hole had been equally significant when Southgate had a bogey six to Perez’s birdie four for a two shot swing, which brought the Frenchman back into the contest.

Perez eventually finished with 70 to Southgate’s 71 for a 22-under-par total for his first European Tour win. It takes him to 20th in The Race to Dubai and into the top 70 in the world rankings.

Perez added: “It wasn’t easy. Matt played amazingly. I was expecting some of the other guys to charge and we were fortunate it was a one-on-one battle with Matt on the back nine. Hats off to him. He gave me a hell of a fight. I felt like it could have gone either way. I was able to make that birdie on 14 that really pulled me back and then just held strong till the end.”

For Southgate even to get into the position he did marks a personal milestone, having fought back from cancer in 2015. He said: “It’s been a horrible season for me and this has sorted that right out and got us right back to The Race to Dubai and that’s the goal for me. I think I’ve proven to the world this week that when I do switch it on, I can mix it with the best and I’ve beaten a hell of a lot of good players this week.”

I’m sure when it all comes out in the wash, I’ll be having a beer somewhere with a smile and some good friends and I’ll look back on this week as a huge success and a massive achievement in my career, to shoot four scores like that on the golf courses we played this week. I’ve played some great golf, and you can’t help but be pleased. Victor, what a gentleman. I’ve never played with him before, and couldn’t be happier for him.”

Many thought Tony Finau would be the biggest threat after an excellent year where he finished third in the Open Championship and fifth in The Masters, but he never seemed able to get his game going.

Hoping to become the first American to win the Alfred Dunhill Links, he started with a birdie at the 1st, but could only play out the rest of the front nine in par. It was a similar story on the back nine as he failed to make up ground on Southgate and Perez and eventually finished tied tenth on 18-under-par after a 71.