Portugal Masters R4

Portugal Masters 2021 R4
November 04-07
Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course, Vilamoura, Portugal
€1,500,000
Round 1, Round 2, Round 3

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

Thomas Pieters reached 19-under on Sunday to win his fifth European Tour title at the Portugal Master.

Portugal Masters 2021 R4

“I didn’t expect to come down with a two shot lead after we ping-ponged leads. I saw Højgaard was up there again. That five iron into 17 was the best shot of the day for me. Just how I envisioned it. I ran the first putt by, but I felt comfortable over my putter all week. I ‘ve been putting really nicely the last five or six weeks. It showed on the last. I saw the line, picked it, hit it and it went in.”

Portugal Masters 2021 R4

Pieters, who last won at the 2019 D+D Real Czech Masters, moves back into the top-100 in the Official World Golf Ranking

“It does (feel like a long time). Two years is a long time. I’ve had a child in the meantime, who talks and runs around, it does feel like a long time.

“I was going into this week and next week with my back to the wall. I had nothing to lose but everything to gain. I’ve never missed the end of the Race to Dubai and really didn’t want to miss it. I didn’t care if I finished first, second or third. I just wanted to get there, but winning is amazing.”

Portugal Masters 2021 R4

The Belgian player started the day with a share of the lead alongside Frenchman Matthieu Pavon at 16-under and produced an eagle at the par-5 5th, two birdies and two bogeys for a closing 68.

“You know on the back nine you can shoot 30 or 29, I’m not going to say easily but it’s out there,” said Pieters. “I expected someone to get to 17 or 18 from the back of the pack. Matthieu (Pavon) hit a couple of errant shots. Is it pressure? Is it the first time near the lead? I don’t know, but he ‘s going to learn from it. He played amazing, making a birdie after an eight on 12 was impressive. He’ll be back.”

Pavon had a flawless front nine, firing three birdies to make the turn in 32. He made three more birdies on the back nine but also found water three times and made two bogeys and a triple bogey at the par-5 12th. He closed with a 70 and a share of second place at 17-under.

Portugal Masters 2021 R4

Danes Nicolai Højgaard (64), who carded the lowest round of the day, and Lucas Bjerregaard (66) tied with Pavon for second place.

“It’s been good fun,” said Højgaard. ” It was a good ride on the back and the front nine as well. It’s tough right now, I’m so disappointed with my finish. It’s kind of hard right now to see the positives, but I played some really good golf today and I’m proud of that. But I’m not satisfied with the finish.

“I’m pretty sure I’m going to win at least one more time, a few times, in the next few years. I’m just disappointed; when you have the chance to close out a tournament and put some pressure on the guys behind and then you don’t do that, it’s tough sometimes. But there’s many positives and I’m happy.”

“I thought they (Pieters and Pavon) would be a few more under and in a battle between them. I was thinking I was playing for third place today with Lucas (Bjerregaard). It’s always fun when you’re in contention, all of a sudde n you make a few birdies and you’re up there sharing the lead.

Portugal Masters 2021 R4

Bjerregaard has now secured his Tour card for 2022 after moving into the top-100 on the Race to Dubai.

“I haven’t felt comfortable all week,” said Bjerregaard, “but I did what I came here to do. Even though I didn’t feel like I’d played very well. That kind of sunk in with that putt on the last.

Englishman Matthew Jordan closed with a 66 for a share of fifth place at 13-under alongside second round leader Nino Bertasio of Italy who closed with a 67.

Portugal Masters 2021 R4

Pos.	Player	To Par	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1	PIETERS, Thomas	-19	68	64	65	68	265
2	HØJGAARD, Nicolai	-17	67	69	67	64	267
	BJERREGAARD, Lucas	-17	67	65	69	66	267
	PAVON, Matthieu	-17	68	64	65	70	267
5	JORDAN, Matthew	-13	70	68	67	66	271
	BERTASIO, Nino	-13	61	69	74	67	271
7	LAPORTA, Francesco	-12	70	66	69	67	272
8	LEE, Min Woo	-11	68	68	71	66	273
	PEREZ, Victor	-11	72	68	68	65	273
	ARNAUS, Adri	-11	65	67	73	68	273
8	BLAND, Richard	-11	70	65	69	69	273
12	HARRINGTON, Padraig	-10	67	72	68	67	274
	HORSEY, David	-10	70	68	69	67	274
	WILSON, Oliver	-10	68	67	70	69	274
	HORSFIELD, Sam	-10	68	66	69	71	274
	BROBERG, Kristoffer	-10	69	67	66	72	274
17	CROCKER, Sean	-9	70	67	70	68	275
	HANSEN, Joachim B.	-9	69	67	70	69	275
	PULKKANEN, Tapio	-9	69	67	70	69	275
	GREEN, Gavin	-9	66	69	70	70	275
	SHINKWIN, Callum	-9	67	66	71	71	275
22	CATLIN, John	-8	70	70	71	65	276
	MOLINARI, Edoardo	-8	72	69	68	67	276
	FORREST, Grant	-8	68	67	71	70	276
	HEBERT, Benjamin	-8	67	69	68	72	276
26	WALTERS, Justin	-7	71	70	70	66	277
	ANGLES, Pep	-7	68	69	72	68	277
	CALDWELL, Jonathan	-7	69	71	69	68	277
	LANGASQUE, Romain	-7	71	68	69	69	277
30	BJÖRK, Alexander	-6	71	66	71	70	278
	FISHER, Ross	-6	71	67	70	70	278
32	GALLACHER, Stephen	-5	69	68	73	69	279
	SANTOS, Ricardo	-5	70	69	71	69	279
	WOOD, Chris	-5	71	69	69	70	279
	SENIOR, Jack	-5	71	67	69	72	279
36	ARMITAGE, Marcus	-4	68	69	76	67	280
	LARRAZÁBAL, Pablo	-4	70	71	72	67	280
	KIEFFER, Maximilian	-4	70	71	72	67	280
	LEVY, Alexander	-4	69	69	73	69	280
	ROZNER, Antoine	-4	70	69	72	69	280
41	SMITH, Jordan	-3	72	67	74	68	281
	OLESEN, Thorbjørn	-3	72	69	71	69	281
43	BESSELING, Wil	-2	68	74	72	68	282
	BROWN, Steven	-2	68	71	72	71	282
	RAMSAY, Richie	-2	70	69	70	73	282
	LEMKE, Niklas	-2	72	68	69	73	282
47	JOHNSTON, Andrew	PAR	72	68	77	67	284
	HØJGAARD, Rasmus	PAR	67	71	74	72	284
49	ELVIRA, Nacho	+1	72	70	74	69	285
	ZANOTTI, Fabrizio	+1	69	72	71	73	285
51	JANEWATTANANOND, Jazz	+2	70	72	72	72	286
	DONALDSON, Jamie	+2	73	67	73	73	286
53	HANSON, Peter	+3	71	69	74	73	287
54	COLSAERTS, Nicolas	+4	69	73	76	70	288
	KORHONEN, Mikko	+4	68	74	76	70	288
	SAMOOJA, Kalle	+4	68	72	74	74	288
	JAMIESON, Scott	+4	71	71	72	74	288
	SULLIVAN, Andy	+4	70	71	70	77	288
59	LAW, David	+5	68	74	74	73	289
	COETZEE, George	+5	70	71	73	75	289
61	LOPES, Vitor	+6	71	69	76	74	290
62	GOUVEIA, Tomas	7	71	69	76	75	291
63	CHESTERS, Ashley	8	75	66	77	74	292
64	MACINTYRE, Robert	12	70	70	74	82	296
65	WARREN, Marc	15	74	67	77	81	299
66	STORM, Graeme	+1	74	69			143
	ROCK, Robert	+1	73	70			143
	FISHER, Oliver*	+1	70	73			143
	OTAEGUI, Adrian	+1	72	71			143
	CANTER, Laurie*	+1	70	73			143
	ROUSSEL, Robin*	+1	73	70			143
	MCEVOY, Richard*	+1	73	70			143
	SURI, Julian*	+1	71	72			143
74	FIGUEIREDO, Pedro*	+2	71	73			144
	LUITEN, Joost	+2	72	72			144
	SINGH BRAR, Jack	+2	72	72			144
	FARR, Oliver*	+2	74	70			144
	PARATORE, Renato	+2	72	72			144
	LORENZO-VERA, Mike*	+2	70	74			144
	GAVINS, Daniel	+2	72	72			144
81	SYME, Connor*	+3	73	72			145
	VÄLIMÄKI, Sami*	+3	70	75			145
	DRYSDALE, David	+3	72	73			145
	PAISLEY, Chris*	+3	71	74			145
	LIMA, José-Filipe	+3	72	73			145
86	JACQUELIN, Raphaël*	+4	71	75			146
	KINHULT, Marcus	+4	72	74			146
	GUERRIER, Julien*	+4	74	72			146
89	QUIROS, Alvaro	+5	73	74			147
	GARCIA RODRIGUEZ, Sebastian	+5	74	73			147
91	PORTEOUS, Haydn	+6	75	73			148
	CAMPILLO, Jorge	+6	79	69			148
	WALLACE, Matt	+6	72	76			148
	STALTER, Joël	+6	76	72			148
	DU PREEZ, James Hart	+6	72	76			148
	SHARVIN, Cormac*	+6	76	72			148
97	PEPPERELL, Eddie	+7	73	76			149
98	BJØRN, Thomas*	+8	73	77			150
	SODERBERG, Sebastian	+8	76	74			150
100	LOMBARD, Zander	+9	73	78			151
100	GAGLI, Lorenzo*	+9	76	75			151
102	HOWELL, David	+10	75	77			152
	HEND, Scott*	+10	75	77			152
104	CLARE NEVES, Pedro* (AM)	+20	78	84			162
W/D	HILL, Calum*	+5	76				76
W/D	DUBUISSON, Victor*	+6	77				77
RETD	SOUTHGATE, Matthew*	+3					34
RETD	McGOWAN, Ross	+5	70				127
* Player started on the back nine