Scotland-based Perez wins Dunhill Championship at home of Golf

Frenchman Victor Perez won his first European Tour in 29 attempts by defeating Matthew Southgate by one shot in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in St Andrews, Scotland.

Perez finished 22 under par over the three-day Championship across three courses in St Andrews, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie. Southgate had a chance to take the match into a play-off but missed his birdie putt chance on the 18^th green in front of the famous Royal and Ancient Golf Club house in St Andrews.

Perez then cooly two-putted for his par to half the hole and win the championship. The victory for Perez helps him move up from 184^th to 72^nd in the World Golfing rankings.

Perez lives less than 30 minutes drive away from St Andrews in Dundee and said after his victory that he felt it definitely helped him having home advantage. The Frenchman moved to Scotland a year and a half ago and explained that he moved here because:

“there is a real passion for golf in Scotland and I needed to be around a culture that cherishes that. The culture of golf in Scotland should make every golfer in Europe want to come and live here. People here live golf.”

A Scottish journalist then asked Perez whether the country could claim him as an honorary Scot because he now lives here as it’s been too long since a Scottish player has won this historic tournament (14 years). Perez replied “yeah sure, if it helps you sell more papers!”

The venue for the climax of the tournament was at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club in St Andrews, which is the oldest and most prestigious golf club in the world. It is regarded as the worldwide “Home of Golf” and is the governing body for the Rules of Golf across the globe. Golf was played throughout Scotland from as far back as the 1400s and was actually banned for several decades by a number of successive Kings as a waste of common people’s time (despite still being played by nobles)!