European Tour, 03 June 2019: Guido Migliozzi claimed his second European Tour win of the season with a four-shot victory over Darius van Driel in the final of the Belgian Knockout.
The Italian only came through the Qualifying School in November and now has two victories in just 20 events after his triumph at the Magical Kenya Open presented by Absa in March.
He laid down a marker on day four at Rinkven International Golf Club with a win over Bernd Wiesberger in his quarter-final and then defeated Scotsman Ewen Ferguson in the last four.
“I’m feeling very good. I managed very well this afternoon, all the shots,” said Migliozzi.
“It’s been great playing like this with such great players. I’m playing solid and I will try to continue this quality in the future.
“He (Van Driel) played very solid, we played together on the Challenge Tour and it’s been a great match. He’s a good player.”
Van Driel beat Matthew Southgate and Grégory Havret en route to the final on Sunday in Antwerp but the Dutchman could not match Migliozzi’s three under par total.
“It’s a great week. Best birthday present it could possibly give me, except for the win of course,” said Van Driel.
“I knew he was long (with the driver) but you’ve got to hit it straight and that’s what he did on four out of the five holes. That put some pressure on me and forced me to make birdies. It didn’t happen but I gave it my all. He played great.
“My focus is still on the Challenge Tour. I’m flying to Switzerland on Tuesday, we’ll see how it goes there, see what tournament on the Challenge Tour is during the BMW. I’m hoping to play in Germany but we’ll see how it goes.
“My whole family is here so we’ll probably have some drinks and have dinner afterward.”
Ferguson beat Havret by four shots in the play-off to claim third place ahead of the Frenchman.
In the second staging of this event with its innovative format, Migliozzi finished in a tie for fifth in Section A after 36 holes of stroke play and then beat Pedro Oriol, defending champion Adrian Otaegui and David Law in his first three knockout matches over nine holes of medal match play.
The victory moves Migliozzi to 21st on the Race to Dubai Rankings Presented by Rolex, into the top 100 on the Official World Golf Ranking, and makes him the second 2018 Q School graduate to win twice on the 2019 Race to Dubai after Kurt Kitayama.
