Final Round Report
Dominic Foos carded a final round five under par 67 to win the Vierumäki Finnish Challenge supported by Finnish Golf Union and secure his second HotelPlanner Tour title. The German reached 21 under par for the week, needing only a par on the last to finish one-stroke clear of Denmark’s Jonathan Gøth-Rasmussen, who narrowly missed an 18-foot birdie putt to force a play-off.
Foos was ecstatic to come through the wet and windy conditions that made scoring much tougher on Sunday for his first win on the Road to Mallorca since 2015.
“I feel amazing,” he said. “It was quite the grind today. I’m proud of myself, how I handled the situation and how I played in these tough conditions, so I’m very happy.
“The way the weather was today made it kind of a survival day in a way. My caddie and I said we’ve just got to hit fairways and greens, maybe a couple of putts will drop and we should be good. We basically did exactly that and luckily came out on top.”
Starting the day three-strokes adrift of overnight leader and compatriot Tiger Christensen, Foos got out of the blocks quickly by making a birdie on the opening hole, and picking up two more before the turn.
He then catapulted to the top of the leaderboard with consecutive gains on 11 and 12 and, despite bogeying 14, would find one more birdie at 16 to reach the winning number.
Although the 28-year-old was playing as an invite into the field, Foos said that positive signs in his game gave him confidence that he could get the win.
“Every week I want to win but my game’s been trending really well. I knew it’s only a matter of time if you stay patient that we would at least be in contention.
“The one time I have been in contention so far this season was now, and I got the win so that’s obviously good but it’s all about putting yourself in that situation and going from there.
“I didn’t look at the leaderboard much because I felt like the way we were playing in the final group, and the way these conditions were, I didn’t really think anyone could really catch up.
“I was just kind of focussed on my game as well and making sure we stayed true to the game plan.
“Obviously, Jonathan had a great day as well and it kind of came down to the last few holes where it did feel a little bit more like a matchplay thing, but still you’ve got to play your own game out there and make the putts and play smart.”
Having turned professional in 2014, Foos made HotelPlanner Tour history the following year by winning the GANT Open at Finland’s Aura Golf Club in Turku at just 17 years old, the youngest player to ever win an event.
Foos said that getting over the line for the second time in Finland more than a decade later has allowed him to reflect on how he has changed since that history-making week.
“I think it was eleven years ago in 2015, I was at the time the youngest winner on the HotelPlanner Tour so that was a big thing but looking back, I’m so much more mature, a much more complete golfer than I was back then.
“It’s nice to see the trend and how things have progressed, but the first win is always very special. I’ve always really looked forward to playing in Finland so very happy to have my second win here in Finland as well.
“I haven’t thought about the season as a whole or the Rankings much to be honest, but I think good golf takes care of everything so just try and do the same thing next week and go from there.”
Christensen finished in solo third at 18 under par, with Sweden’s Adam Blomme and Slovakia’s Tadeas Tetak rounding out the top five.
Foos’ victory sees him move up 94 spots in the Road to Mallorca Rankings to 26th, with Pablo Ereno remaining as number one.
The Road to Mallorca now heads to Sweden for the Dormy Open by Creekhouse, to be played from August 27-30.
Scores after round four:
267 D FOOS (GER) 69 63 68 67,
268 J G?TH-RASMUSSEN (DEN) 63 66 70 69,
270 T CHRISTENSEN (GER) 66 68 63 73,
271 A BLOMME (SWE) 66 67 68 70, T TETAK (SVK) 72 64 65 70,
272 C BLOMSTRAND (SWE) 66 65 69 72,
273 J CATLIN (USA) 66 67 69 71, M VARJUN (EST) 67 69 66 71,
274 C FORSTER (ENG) 66 69 70 69, K SAMOOJA (FIN) 65 68 71 70, G ROBERTSON (SCO) 67 64 72 71, H BROWN (DEN) 66 68 69 71,
275 C LINDH (SWE) 67 71 69 68, A PLANT (ENG) 68 66 71 70, S TARRIO (ESP) 68 66 71 70, M HIRMER (GER) 70 67 67 71, K BRESSUM (DEN) 66 71 67 71, K KOIVU (FIN) 68 67 68 72, J SCHNEIDER (GER) 69 66 68 72, C FARR (ENG) 67 69 66 73,
276 B EASTON (RSA) 67 71 69 69, T PULKKANEN (FIN) 69 65 72 70, J WALTERS (RSA) 71 66 68 71, C HANNA (USA) 73 66 66 71, J JI (NED) 68 67 69 72, B ?KESSON (SWE) 70 66 68 72, M WARREN (SCO) 70 66 68 72,
277 H LONG (GER) 66 71 71 69, C HUNTZINGER (USA) 70 65 72 70, O GILLBERG (SWE) 69 69 69 70, F MRUZEK (CZE) 71 68 68 70, N CARLSON (USA) 68 69 67 73, A SETTEMSDAL (NOR) 67 67 67 76,
278 R KLEU (SUI) 68 70 70 70, L ROSENDAHL (AM) (FIN) 69 67 71 71, J VECCHI FOSSA (ITA) 70 67 70 71, T SLOMAN (ENG) 72 66 69 71, L RUUSKA (FIN) 70 69 67 72, J SALE (FRA) 65 72 67 74,
279 V BJORLOW (DEN) 70 66 73 70, B BAWDEN (ENG) 70 67 70 72, S BROHOLT LIND (DEN) 68 69 70 72, J BARCOS GARBAYO (ESP) 66 69 70 74, K JOHANNESSEN (NOR) 72 66 67 74, W NIENABER (RSA) 67 67 67 78,
280 K VINCENT (ZIM) 70 69 73 68, K JEGERS (EST) 67 68 70 75, C SORDET (FRA) 69 69 67 75, L FRICKER (ENG) 70 66 68 76,
281 A KNAPPE (GER) 68 69 70 74, L NOLAN (IRL) 69 68 70 74, M HONKALA (FIN) 67 72 68 74,
282 O NIKKU (FIN) 70 67 72 73, W DE VRIES (NED) 70 66 72 74, T GOUVEIA (POR) 70 68 68 76,
283 J AXELSEN (DEN) 72 67 73 71, M HELLER (AM) (DEN) 68 66 76 73,
284 K MATTSSON (FIN) 71 68 73 72, L ALBERTSE (RSA) 70 69 72 73, A HORTAL (ESP) 67 66 75 76, P KATICH (GER) 66 70 71 77, M BESARD (BEL) 70 67 69 78,
285 G HAEFNER (USA) 70 69 75 71, R SCIOT-SIEGRIST (FRA) 70 68 73 74, M STURDZA (SUI) 72 66 72 75,
287 F MICHETTI (ITA) 68 70 69 80,
288 J QUESNE (FRA) 71 67 74 76,
291 D MCELROY (NIR) 71 68 73 79,
**
140 C ADAMS (USA) 71 69, B SKOGEN (NOR) 71 69, P FIGUEIREDO (POR) 72 68, R LUMSDEN (SCO) 70 70, E ROUSAUD (ESP) 69 71, V ALVES (POR) 67 73, S HUTSBY (ENG) 72 68, C BRING (DEN) 69 71, J ZUSKA (CZE) 69 71, A EJLERSEN (DEN) 74 66, A GOFF (USA) 72 68, M CRISTONI (ITA) 71 69, J MCGOLDRICK (ENG) 68 72,
141 R MULLARNEY (IRL) 71 70, T JENSEN ED?N (SWE) 70 71, J MEYER DE BECO (BEL) 69 72, M FEUERSTEIN (USA) 69 72, S TIBBITS (USA) 71 70, N LEGENDRE (FRA) 73 68, H BARRON (AUS) 72 69, J TORRES (ESP) 68 73, H HOPEWELL (AUS) 67 74, S GROS (FRA) 70 71, T TUOHIMAA (FIN) 70 71, J ALLAN (ENG) 70 71, W BESSELING (NED) 71 70, J CALLES ROMAN (ESP) 73 68, J BEKIRIAN (ARM) 70 71, D LANGLEY (ENG) 73 68, C STEFUREAK (CAN) 70 71,
142 M POWER (IRL) 68 74, R PETERSSON (SWE) 72 70, J HARDING (RSA) 74 68, N TYMINSKI (POL) 69 73, C SHAUN (USA) 70 72, J SALAMA (ESP) 72 70, T SCHMIDT (GER) 71 71, A KLEEN (SWE) 70 72, L ADDABBO (ITA) 70 72, M HAMMER (GER) 72 70, G BLOOR (ENG) 75 67, A ZEMMER (ITA) 73 69, C CLAYCOMB (USA) 73 69, J AGERSCHOU (DEN) 67 75, N BACHEM (GER) 75 67,
143 K JUTILA (AM) (FIN) 72 71, B GILL (ENG) 72 71, D ERICKSON (USA) 74 69, J HACK (USA) 72 71, J MOSCATEL (ESP) 74 69, W HOPKINS (ENG) 71 72, V CHOPRA (USA) 74 69, L LANG (GER) 72 71, S JONES (NZL) 72 71, A AGUILERA (ESP) 72 71, C JACOBSEN (DEN) 71 72,
144 M ERIKSSON (SWE) 69 75, J FLOYDD (ENG) 73 71, J SOWDEN (AM) (ENG) 74 70, C GUGLER (SUI) 73 71, B AMAT (FRA) 72 72, P LENCART SILVA (POR) 71 73, Q CROKER (AUS) 70 74, J PAGDIN (ENG) 73 71,
145 R MCGOWAN (ENG) 73 72, A BONETA (ESP) 71 74, A ETCHENIQUE (FRA) 71 74, R KAKKO (FIN) 71 74, L VAN DER VIGHT (NED) 77 68, C BRAEUNIG (GER) 70 75, S SILTALA (AM) (FIN) 73 72,
146 J KUMPULAINEN (FIN) 74 72, R KIVI (EST) 71 75, C SEEBER (USA) 68 78, N REGNER (AUT) 75 71,
147 M GILCHREST (USA) 75 72, R ROUSSEL (FRA) 73 74,
148 P PINEAU (FRA) 75 73, J SUGRUE (IRL) 77 71, J SERRA (ESP) 81 67, R BROOKS (ENG) 73 75,
149 R FOLEY (SUI) 78 71, C HELLAT (EST) 77 72,
150 S HALONEN (FIN) 78 72, W VOLD (ENG) 72 78,
151 A RODRIGUEZ ANDREU (ESP) 72 79,
157 M BARGENDA (POL) 76 81,
162 O OSALA (AM) (FIN) 81 81,
Tournament: Vierumäki Finnish Challenge supported by Finnish Golf Union
Venue: Cooke Course, Vierumäki, Finland
Hashtag: #VierumakiFinnishChallenge