Swiss Challenge 2019
09.06.2019

Ricardo Santos claimes victory at the Swiss Challenge with a superb six under par 65 on the final day at Golf Sempachersee. The Portuguese carded a 15 under par total thanks to rounds of 65-68-71-65 and finished one shot clear of Germany’s Moritz Lampert and England’s Richard Bland on a cold and rainy day.

In stark contrast to the scorching sunshine of day three, the final round asked different questions of the players and it was Santos who had all the answers. He began his round with four successive birdies followed by his only bogey of the day on the fifth hole, before adding three more gains on the back nine to secure his first victory since his emotional Madeira Islands Open – Portugal triumph in 2012.

Benjamin Rusch, the best of three Swiss in the final, placed T25 with a total score of 280 (68/71/70/71). "It was a solid week, but I missed the exploit here to keep up the good work. I was often not close enough to the flag. " Rusch does not have a regular tour card on the Challenge Tour. He therefore will continue to score on the Pro Golf Tour in order to secure a fixed Challlenge Tour place for next year.

Mathias Eggenberger and Marco Iten, the other two Swiss in the final rounds, could not improve their positions on Sunday and fell back slightly. Eggenberger placed T50 with a total score of 285 (70/70/72/73) and Iten T56 with a total score of 287 (65/73/77/72) .