Twelve year-old Louis Klein overturned a five-stroke deficit to claim a two shot triumph over Trump International’s James Nash in the Men’s Open at the Els Club.
Klein, who lives in the Czech Republic, started the second round five strokes adrift of leader Allister Parlane but started fast with three birdies on the front nine to climb to the top of the leaderboard after Parlane had gone out in 41.
The youngster then came home in level par with birdies on 14 and 18 cancelling out dropped shots on the 10 and 17. His final round 70 was enough to claim the title with Nash two strokes behind in second while Arjun Gupta pipped Parlane to third on a countback.
After his triumph Klein was quick to thank Jamie McConnell, Director of Instruction at the Claude Harmon III Performance Golf Academy and Danny Wilde, who coaches PGA Champions Tour star Alex Cejka.
Next up on the EGF Order of Merit is this week’s Men’s Open at Abu Dhabi Golf Club on the National Course. Toby Bishop leads the way in the rankings with 194.75 points followed by Dan Byrne in second on 124.5 points and Hugo Garcia-Villalon in third with 113.5 points.
In the Ladies Open, Lara El Chaib was crowned champion after shooting a two under par 70. Liang Wei Liu finished runner-up with a 75 while Hanna Alan completed the top three after firing a 77.
