Angel Cabrera was crowned the Legends Tour’s match play king in Hertfordshire as he won the Paul Lawrie Match Play at Hanbury Manor.
The field had been whittled down from 64 on Thursday to the last two men standing on Sunday afternoon, and it was a final which whet the appetite, with two-time Major winner Angel Cabrera going head-to-head with three-time Legends Tour winner and the 2022 MCB Road to Mauritius champion James Kingston facing each other.
There were pleasantries on the tee, but shortly before their tee time a steely focus appeared on both men’s faces.
First blood went the way of the Argentinian, who won the second hole, but in a scrappy front nine where seven holes were halved – it was Kingston winning the 8th which would see them head into the turn with the match tied.
Cabrera would win the 12th to take the advantage early on in the back nine, only for Kingston to level things again when he won the 14th.
But the 2007 US Open and 2009 Masters champion won back-to-back on 15 and 16 to be two up with two to play.
Off the tee at 17, Cabrera missed left and was in the light rough among a small group of young trees. Kingston hit the fairway, but his approach shot would end up in the greenside bunker – while Cabrera hit a sublime 8-iron from 177 yards to less than 10 feet. When Kingston hit his bunker shot thin and racing past the pin, the South African conceded the match to Cabrera.
“’I’ve worked very hard over the last three months for this moment, so I am very happy,” said the 54-year-old Argentinian, who won the US Open in 2007 and the Masters in 2009, but hadn’t won a professional tournament since 2013. “We don’t play a lot of match play on tour, but I like the format, and I had to play hole by hole. I can say I feel very emotional now.”
In the play-off match for third place, Greig Hutcheon beat Bradley Dredge 2&1.
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