Marco Penge held his nerve in a play-off to defeat fellow Englishman Daniel Brown and take the Spanish Open title in Madrid.<\/p>\n
Penge held a four-shot lead over nearest challenger Joel Girrbach going into the final round, while he was five shots better off than Brown.<\/p>\n
However, he only had a one-shot advantage going to the 18th on Sunday after his lead was trimmed.<\/p>\n
After Penge made par to finish with a one-over 72 for his final round at the Club de Campo, Brown sank a birdie putt for a 67 which forced a play-off as both finished on 15 under.<\/p>\n
At the first time of asking in the sudden-death play-off, Penge birdied the 18th with an eight-foot putt to secure a third European Tour title of the season.<\/p>\n
Penge’s victory in Spain also means he has automatically qualified for the 154th Open at Royal Birkdale next year as well at the Masters at Augusta.<\/p>\n
“It was a strange day for me,” said Penge, who carded 66, 67 and 64 in his first three rounds.<\/p>\n
“I had it in my head that the golfing gods were kind of against me in a way. Dan and Joel played great, they were holing putts and putting the pressure on me.<\/p>\n
“I just couldn’t get it in the hole. It felt like I was really up against it, but I felt like I managed myself really well.”<\/p>\n