England’s Bob Cameron birdied three of the last four holes to win the inaugural Sanremo Masters and claim his second title of the year on the European Seniors Tour.
Cameron, who won the Open de France Seniors in May, was three shots back at the start of the day and came through with a brilliant bogey free eight under par 61 at Sanremo Golf Club.
He overcame strong resistance from playing partners Giuseppe Cali from Italy and Frenchman Gery Watine, who finished second and third respectively.
Cameron finished the tournament on 14 under par, two shots ahead of Cali with Watine a further stroke back. Cali closed with a 64 while Watine returned a 66.
The three were tied for the lead with three to play but Cameron slipped ahead with a birdie three on the 17th before he outplayed his opponents on the par five 18th, where he reached the green in two and just missed his eagle attempt from 15 feet.
“It’s wonderful to win, with such a low finishing round as well. It was close all the way through. It was nip and tuck, I had a two shot lead at one point but they came back fairly quickly with a couple of birdies. I managed to hole three or four very good putts in a row. I had some slightly indifferent shots off tees and fairways,” said Cameron.
The 51 year old finished second in last weekend’s ADT English Seniors Open and was full of confidence this week.
“Second last week gave me confidence coming here. It was just a case of staying patient as I saw everyone else was shooting low. I have been able to shoot a low round on the last day before which is fantastic if you can do that. I can’t always rely on it. It has happened a number of time before so long may it continue,” added the Englishman.
Chilean Guillermo Encina and Australian David Good, joint overnight leaders, were in the mix for much of the day before Cameron’s group accelerated away. Encina, set back by a tripe bogey six on the ninth, carded a 68 for outright fourth while Good had three costly bogeys on the trot from the 15th to finish with a 69.
The Australian ended in joint fifth place with England’s Carl Mason and Bill Longmuir from Scotland.
Mason, leader of the Seniors Tour Order of Merit list with five victories this season, completed the week with a 65.
As well as Cali’s second place finish Italian fans were able to cheer the success of Alberto Croce, who won the Hardys Super Seniors Prize which goes to the leading player aged over 60. Croce finished in 29th place after firing a 71.
The Sanremo Masters was the penultimate leg on this year’s Seniors Tour and will be followed by the Estoril Seniors Tour Championship in Portugal in two weeks time.
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