Hilleard’s dramatic charge wins French open title

England’s Josh Hilleard captured the French amateur title in brilliant fashion, charging 18 places up the leaderboard in the final round then winning the championship in a play-off.

Hilleard, an England international, was one-over par after 54 holes and eight off the lead, when he shot seven-under 64 in the fourth round at Chantilly.

It included a stunning run of four consecutive birdies and an eagle, which started on the fourth, and it catapulted him into a tie with Pierre Pineau of France, who also charged to the top with a closing 66.

On the first play-off hole, the short 16th, Pineau had a putt to win, but his ball lacked speed and missed on the low side of the hole.

They continued to the par four 17th where Hilleard managed a text book par which gave him the title after the Frenchman found sand with his tee shot and was unable to match him.

“This is a massive thrill, more than you can imagine,” said Hilleard, 20, from Farrington Park, Somerset. “You might hope one day to win from however far behind I was, but you know it’s not going to happen that often. It’s a very big confidence boost.”

He gave a hint of what was to come when he played the first nine holes of the third round in five-under, before dropping shots on the way home. It triggered positive thoughts for the last round and he went out “hoping for something to happen – and it did! The golf all just fell into place, everything I’d practiced came together and worked.”

Hilleard gave himself a brief fright on the 11th, where he had a double bogey, but said: “It brought me back down to earth and got me back concentrating. It was all going too easily and, although it cost me a bit, it certainly woke me up!”

Pineau – with whom Hilleard had played the opening two rounds – was the first to congratulate him on his score. “He’s a top kid,” said Hilleard, who becomes the first Englishman to win this title, going one better than England team-mate Marco Penge who forced a play-off in last year’s championship, only to lose to Ivan Cantero of Spain. This is the fourth year in a row that the title and the destination of the Murat Cup have been decided in a play-off.

 

 

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A graduate of Cardiff University’s highly respected post-graduate magazine journalism course, Andy has successfully edited four different publications across the B2B, trade and consumer sectors. He is skilled at all aspects of the magazine process in addition to editing websites and managing social media channels.