There was slow play drama on the DP World Tour at the conclusion of the Turkish Airlines Open on Sunday…
Sweden’s Mikael Lindberg emerged as the DP World Tour’s latest breakthrough winner at the Turkish Airlines Open.
Lindberg impressively negotiated the wind and the rain on a tense Sunday at National Golf Club to edge out Daniel Rodrigues and Guido Migliozzi by two strokes and claim his maiden title.
After over a decade as a professional and 70 starts on the DP World Tour, this was a life-changing week for Lindberg. Not only does he bank a $467,500 winner’s check, he will also now make his major debut at this month’s PGA Championship at Aronimink after topping the circuit’s Asian Swing.
“I felt dizzy and I felt like I want to throw up,” an emotional Lindberg said after his final round 69. “It’s been mentally pretty tough the whole week so it’s very nice to pull it off.
“It’s a dream come true really. I’ve been dreaming about this for so many years.”
For the Italian Gregorio de Leo, difficult lessons will have been learned in Antalya. The 26-year-old entered the back nine on Sunday in the hunt for his own first victory. On the tee on the 11th hole, he was one shot from the lead – but de Leo’s group had been monitored since walking from the ninth tee.
De Leo comfortably exceeded the permitted shot time on the 168-yard par-3. He made an up-and-down from just short of the green, but was then informed by a referee that he had been penalized with a one-shot penalty.
A Tour spokesperson explained the ruling to TG: “The one shot penalty is because the player exceeded his allowed time for the stroke (50 seconds) by more than an additional 30 seconds – whilst being monitored.
“In such situations the DP World Tour Pace of Play Policy stipulates a one stroke penalty to be applied.”
De Leo, who earned his card at Q School last year, admirably bounced back with a birdie on the following par-5, but made bogeys on the 15th and 17th to slide down the leaderboard.
