World Super 6 Perth: Ryan Fox claims title

Day four report

New Zealand's Ryan Fox made the most of an early reprieve to claim his first European Tour title with victory in the ISPS Handa World Super 6 in Perth.

Fox defeated Spain's Adrian Otaegui 3&2 in the final at Lake Karrinyup after previous narrow victories over Jazz Janewattananond, Kristoffer Reitan and Paul Dunne.

As one of the top eight players after 54 holes of strokeplay Fox received a bye into the second round of match play, where Thailand's Janewattananond missed from three feet to win the match on the second knockout hole.

Fox took full advantage and won the contest on the next, before edging past Reitan in the quarter-finals and Dunne in the semi-finals, both matches going down to the final hole.

"I've been close a couple of times and it's certainly nice to get one over the line today in a place I hold pretty special. I've played a lot of golf here and always enjoyed myself," Fox, who lost a play-off to Russell Knox in the Irish Open last year, said in an interview broadcast on Sky Sports.

"Adrian didn't quite play to his best this afternoon but I'm quite happy to take advantage of that. I played great this afternoon and felt probably under the most control in all the matches so it was nice to finish in style."

"I always enjoyed match play as an amateur. I had a pretty decent record playing for Auckland in the Inter-provincial, and I grew up playing team sports, so you just get used to trying to beat someone and I quite like that. It's different than trying to beat the golf course."

Dunne, who partnered Gavin Moynihan to victory in the GolfSixes event last year, claimed third place after beating Zimbabwe's Scott Vincent on the first extra hole of the play-off for third/fourth place.

"I'm good friends with Ryan so I'm happy for him," Dunne said. "His first win has been coming for a long time. Obviously it's at my expense so it's a little bittersweet, but if I was to lose to anyone this week I'm happy it's Ryan."

Day three report

Swedish rookie Per Langfors will be the top seed heading into the final match-play round of what looks to be a wide open battle for the ISPS Handa World Super 6.

The innovative event in Perth, Australia, sees the players compete in three rounds of stroke play before the top 24 go head-to-head in six-hole knockout match play on Sunday to determine the winner.

The 24 were decided on Saturday, and it was world number 678 Langfors who finished in the number one spot after shooting an impressive eight-under-par 64 to finish the day with a one-shot lead on 10 under par.

Langfors holed seven birdies and an eagle, with the only blemish on his scorecard being a lone bogey on the 13th hole, to propel himself 36 places up the leaderboard to the summit.

The 24-year-old sits one shot clear of Ireland's Paul Dunne, Australian Brad Kennedy and Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan. New Zealanders Ryan Fox and Gareth Paddison, Japan's Yuta Ikeda and Belgian Thomas Pieters followed on eight under to complete the seedings for the final day, meaning those eight players receive a bye for the first round of the match play.

Into the first round, all on seven under par, went England's Ben Evans, Australians Daniel Gale, Matt Jager and Min Woo Lee, Thai Jazz Janewattananond and Frenchman Clement Sordet.

With 11 players on six under par and just 10 spots remaining for the final day's match play, a play-off was needed to decide who would miss out and England's Tom Murray was the unlucky loser. Robert MacIntyre, Panuphol Pittayarat, Adrian Otaegui, Ben Campbell, Steven Jeffress, Connor Syme, Gregory Bourdy, Andrew Martin, Wade Ormsby and Scott Vincent all progressed.

Top-ranked player Tom Lewis (two over par) and Jason Scrivener (five under par) are the biggest names to miss out on Sunday from the 66 who made the initial cut on Friday night.

Day two report

Thomas Pieters admits he will have to keep his emotions in check to win a first individual title since 2016 in the ISPS Handa World Super 6.

Pieters has developed an unwanted reputation for displays of anger on the course, famously snapping a club around his neck during the 2018 BMW PGA Championship and breaking another across his knee before depositing the two pieces into a gorse bush during the 2016 Open.

The former Ryder Cup star was also annoyed by a late bogey in a second round of 66 at Lake Karrinyup which left him in a four-way tie for the halfway lead on eight under par alongside New Zealand's Ryan Fox, Australian Matthew Griffin and Thailand's Panuphol Pittayarat.

Pieters said: "Like I said earlier in the week, I've just struggled to get four good days in one week and hopefully I can do that this week. I'm playing nicely and if just keep my head on hopefully we can have a good one tomorrow and then anything can happen on Sunday."

Sunday will see the top 24 players battle it out in six-hole match-play contests to decide the winner, with the top eight qualifiers receiving a bye in the first round. Matches tied after six holes will be decided using a "shootout" hole which utilises the existing 18th green and a new tee around 90 yards away.

Pieters has notable match-play pedigree after claiming a record four points on his Ryder Cup debut in 2016, but will be taking nothing for granted after halfway leaders Brett Rumford and Lee Westwood failed to make the top 24 last season.

"You can get careless thinking you've got a lot of room to play with," the 27-year-old Belgian added. "I think I'm going to try and act like it's a strokeplay event and you always want to be in first place. If you're not, I don't think you're mentally taking it the right way."

Fox pledged to take a similar approach as he seeks a first European Tour title, adding: "The last couple of years I've eyed that top 24 and it hasn't worked out very well for me. I'll try to aim a little higher this year and see what happens.

"Certainly no taking the foot off the pedal, just got to try to make some birdies and try to finish as high as possible. There is a little bit of a bonus for finishing in that top eight, getting the first round off, and I'll certainly be aiming for that."

England's Richard McEvoy, Scotland's Robert MacIntyre and Australian Matt Jager are a shot off the lead on seven under par, while first-round leaders Kristoffer Reitan and Miguel Tabuena barely made the halfway cut following rounds of 77 and 78 respectively.

Day one report

Youngsters Miguel Tabuena and Kristoffer Reitan carded matching 65s to share the lead after round one of the ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth.

Tabuena, from the Philippines, started his round with a remarkable seven birdies in succession having teed off from the 10th, with a par at the 17th and another birdie at the 18th sending him out in just 28 strokes.

The 24-year-old went on to reach nine-under with a birdie at the first, but two bogeys thereafter saw him drop back to seven-under and a share of the round one lead.

"My alarm was 3:30 in the morning, but it paid off and I'm pretty happy with my position," Tabuena said. "I love coming to Perth and it feels like home. The weather's similar, the courses are similar, and it's great to be back.

"I tried to keep it (his score) in the back of my head but it caught up to me on the third and fourth hole. I started to force some stuff, which I shouldn't have, and it cost me."

Reitan started with a birdie at the first and added seven more, his one blemish coming at the sixth, as the Norwegian showed a glimpse of the talent which has him marked down as one of the most promising young players in Europe.

The Norwegian doesn't turn 21 until March and so far has struggled to make an impact since securing his card at Qualifying School, but looked in full control here as he hit 16 greens in regulation in a relatively stress-free start to the tournament.

"Last year I qualified for the US Open and qualified for the European Tour through Q-School, so it's something maybe with the qualifying mindset that I enjoy," said Reitan. "I hope it can work to my advantage this week.

"Even if I play really bad I'm trying to learn something, and if I play well, it might be because I've learned something. So, I'm just trying to learn as much as I can from every tournament and try to unlock my best golf."

Ben Campbell and Richard McEvoy share third, two shots adrift, with Ryan Fox and our 200/1 tip Michael Hoey among a group sharing fifth at four-under-par which also includes the leading Australians, Nick Flanagan and Brad Kennedy.

The first 54 holes of the unique event see players jostle for position, with only the top 24 advancing to Sunday's knockout competition, where matches are played over six holes and under match play rules.

With a grand total of 53 players breaking par on a relatively calm first day in Western Australian, there's much to play for with Tabuena and Reitan best placed to earn a ticket for Sunday's fireworks.