David Drysdale and James Heath reach last eight of Belgian Knockout

David Drysdale and James Heath both came through play-offs to advance to the quarter-finals of the inaugural Belgian Knockout.
David Drysdale won three matches to reach the quarter-finals. Picture: Getty.David Drysdale won three matches to reach the quarter-finals. Picture: Getty.
David Drysdale won three matches to reach the quarter-finals. Picture: Getty.

After 36 holes of regular stroke play on Thursday and Friday, the action turned to knockout yesterday, with the top 64 from days one and two facing each other over nine holes of stroke play. Englishman Heath had finished one shot behind leader Jorge Campillo after the first two days, with Scotland’s Drysdale six strokes further back, but they both won three matches yesterday to make the last eight.

Heath had made just one cut all season when he arrived in Belgium but after his heroics in the stroke play, he beat Zimbabwean Scott Vincent in the last 64 and birdied four of his last five while taking advantage of a Scott Fernandez double-bogey on the final hole to make the last 16. There he faced Robert Karlsson and the Swede bogeyed the last and the second play-off hole to send Heath through.

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He will next face home favourite and 2012 Ryder Cup star Nicolas Colsaerts after the 35-year-old defeated Richie Ramsay, Lorenzo Gagli and Joachim B Hansen. “That will be good,” said Heath. “Obviously big home favourite, only Belgian guy left in so you’ve got to imagine that the expectations are quite low of me because he’s in good form.”

Drysdale, pictured, beat South African Haydn Porteous by one shot in the first round and then thumped Australian Dimitrios Papadatos by seven to set up a clash against New Zealander Josh Geary. Both men played the nine holes in level par and made a birdie on the first extra hole, with a second birdie from Drysdale sending him through after a poor chip saw Geary only make par.

Drysdale will next face Frenchman Victor Perez, while the other quarter-finals see an all-French clash between Benjamin Hebert and Mike Lorenzo-Vera, and Spaniards Campillo and Adrian Otaegui go head-to-head.