Trophee Hassan II: Jorge Campillo ends his wait for a first European Tour title

Leaderboard

-9 Campillo

-7 Crocker, Suri, Van Rooyen

-5 Lipsky

-4 Forrest, Kawamura

Day four report

Jorge Campillo admitted he had left it too long to win his first European Tour title after ending his drought at the 229th time of asking.

The 32-year-old Spaniard triumphed at Trophee Hassan II in Morocco following six second-place finishes and four more thirds since graduating from the European Challenge Tour in 2011.

Campillo told www.europeantour.com: "It's been a long road. I'm grateful, but it's been way too long, way too many hours of work since I was a boy to today.

"I'm just proud that I can say I'm a winner on the European Tour. I just love the game, I love competing.

"Most people say, maybe I'm not a winner, but I was when I was an amateur. It was a matter of time, I think I proved it today."

Campillo trailed overnight leader Erik van Rooyen by a shot at the Royal Golf Dar Es Salam and did not make the best start to his final round when he bogeyed two of the first three holes.

However, he steadied his nerve to pick up four birdies for a two-under-par round of 71, which proved to be enough to win by two shots on nine under.

He said: "It was tough, I didn't have my A game. I was missing shots off the tee, but I putted great. I hit some great shots coming in and I'm proud.

"I'm proud of the way I finished. I finished today like a champion."

Van Rooyen ultimately had to make do with a share of second place with American duo Julian Suri and Sean Crocker after carding a 74.

Suri did not drop a single shot as he also finished with a 71, while Crocker's 72 proved eventful as he signed for five birdies - two of them at the final two holes - and four bogeys.

Scotland's Grant Forrest matched Van Rooyen's 74 a day after scoring a 69 to end the tournament in joint-sixth place on four under.

Day three report

Two of the best maidens on the European Tour will play together in the final group of the Trophee Hassan II on Sunday.

Erik van Rooyen and Jorge Campillo, who shared second place in Qatar last month, shot rounds of 68 and 69 respectively on another tough day in Morocco to move to the top of the leaderboard.

Van Rooyen will tee off with the most slender of advantages having reached eight-under, with Campillo - now firmly inside the world's top 100 - just one shot back on seven-under.

It's a decade since Campillo finished fifth on just his second Challenge Tour appearance, and he'll be looking for a breakthrough in what's his 229th European Tour start.

The Spaniard made five birdies on Saturday and kept big mistakes off the card as he has all week, with five bogeys across the 54 holes the joint-best in the field.

"I've been there way too many times, but I think you've got to be in position to win, so I'm in position and hopefully tomorrow is the day," said Campillo.

"I have to be aggressive to win tomorrow. I'll be patient; if I don't win tomorrow, I'll be patient and try some other weeks, but tomorrow I'll try to play aggressive like I did today and hopefully I can make the putts and hit it good off the tee."

Van Rooyen meanwhile has bounced back from an opening 74 to post rounds of 69 and 68, finishing with three birdies in succession to take the lead on his own.

Having been seventh in the event last year - his second-highest finish of the season - van Rooyen has certainly found comfort around Royal Golf Dar Es Salam and he's a marginal favourite ahead of the final round.

"I think I've been in this position a number of times now," he said. "The nerves will be there again tomorrow, but I love to be in this position.

"What we've been doing up until now has been great, and we'll just keep doing that."

Should it be heartbreak for both once again then Sean Crocker is best placed to spoil the party, having moved to six-under and two adrift thanks to a round of 72.

The American had taken the lead early thanks to a pair of opening birdies, but a double-bogey at the difficult 16th stopped him in his tracks - although he did get a shot back before the end of the round.

Scotland's Grant Forrest moved into a share of fourth courtesy of an excellent 69, one of just eight sub-70 rounds on the day with Tapio Pulkkanen and Jake McLeod faring best with matching 67s.

Both remain outside the top 10, with Wade Ormsby, Lee Slattery and Julian Suri completing the group tied for fourth on five-under, and Jordan Smith, Masahiro Kawamura and David Lipsky next on four-under.

Day two report

David Lipsky and Sean Crocker share the halfway lead in the Hassan Trophy as American players continued to enjoy a brilliant season on the European Tour.

Lipsky produced one of the best rounds of the day in testing, windy conditions, a three-under-par 70 at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam leaving him alongside Crocker on five under par.

Crocker, who was born in Zimbabwe but is a naturalised American, added a 74 to his opening 67 to finish a shot ahead of compatriot Julian Suri, Australia's Dimitrios Papadatos and the English pair of Lee Slattery and Jordan Smith.

Smith held the overnight lead following an opening 66 but struggled to a 76 on Friday which contained five bogeys and just two birdies.

American players have won eight of the 18 tournaments contested on the European Tour this season, with Lipsky's good friend Kurt Kitayama getting the ball rolling in Mauritius and Lipsky himself winning in South Africa in December.

Since then, Kitayama won again in Oman, Dustin Johnson has claimed a brace of wins and Bryson DeChambeau, Kevin Kisner and Masters champion Tiger Woods have all tasted victory on the tour.

"Bryson and DJ have come out and played well and they're some of the best players in the world," Lipsky said. "What Kurt and I have been doing has been playing pretty solid.

"It's become more comfortable out here, Americans are more open to coming out, travelling, playing more and it's great to have friends out here.

"I played really solid today. It's tough on that back nine when the wind picked up and the greens firmed up so I'm really happy with where I'm at. We're going into the weekend looking pretty good."

Suri looked poised to hold the outright lead at six under before finding the water on the ninth, his final hole, to run up a double bogey, but was still pleased with a 71 in very tough conditions.

"It was a really solid round," he said. "Still in position to contend for this thing. I hit a lot of good shots and obviously I had one kind of blemish on my last hole today. For the most part I'm pretty pleased with where my game's at."

Scotland's Stephen Gallacher, who had an albatross in his opening 68, slumped to a second round of 82 to fall nine shots off the lead.

Day one report

A sensational finish lifted Stephen Gallacher into contention for back-to-back victories on the European Tour in the Hassan Trophy in Morocco.

Gallacher started his opening round on the back nine at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam and was only level par after 15 holes, but then birdied the seventh, made an albatross on the next and also birdied the ninth.

The 44-year-old Scot, who won the Hero Indian Open at the end of March, holed a three iron from 240 yards on the par-five eighth for his first albatross as a professional and ended the day two shots behind England's Jordan Smith.

"Golf is a very strange game," said Gallacher, who revealed his son and caddie Jack played a key part in the rare feat. "He was confident on it. There's only one club, it's just the ball flight, I had to flight it down a little bit.

"It was 240 (yards), trying to land it 225 and run it up the green and it just came out at the perfect trajectory. I got a good bounce and thought it was going to run up to eight feet or something like that and it went in.

"First one as a pro. Just bizarre isn't it? I'd turned away and just heard everybody shout. It's a nice feeling because it's a tough hole. The drive made it."

Smith carded seven birdies in a flawless round of 66 and revealed he did extremely well to keep a bogey off his card after a testing start on the par-73 layout.

"It probably started off on the first hole, holing a 25-footer for par," Smith said. "I mean, the first four holes I couldn't really hit a barn door, just scrambled well, stuck in there and it all came together at the right time.

"I hit a lot of iron shots close. I think that was key for me today. I rolled it really nice. That's probably the best I've putted for a long time and when I missed a green I chipped on and holed the putt. It was all about momentum for me today."

Smith held a one-shot lead over Spain's Alejandro Canizares and American Sean Crocker, with France's Matthieu Pavon alongside Gallacher on five under. Defending champion Alexander Levy struggled to a two-over-par 75.

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