Huizing wins again to confirm rising status

Daan Huizing has set the standard for budding professionals. Picture: Sandy Young

Huizing, 22, belied his years with nerves of steel when faced with one of the toughest home stretches of the season on the European Challenge Tour, carding a clinical five-under-par final round of 67 that included three birdies in five extremely difficult closing holes.

His second win, coming two weeks after a play-off victory over former Ryder Cup player Oliver Wilson in the Northern Ireland Open Challenge, came courtesy of an almighty change in fortunes on the back nine as Huizing was four shots back from his playing partner  standing on the 13th tee.

There was a seismic shift in momentum thereafter, with Kim carding a double-bogey at the tough par five before they both birdied the 14th to leave a margin of two shots.

A bogey for the Korean at the par five 15th slimmed his lead to just one before the big turning point at the 16th, where a birdie for Huizing and a bogey for Kim resulted in a two-shot swing and launched the former World  Amateur No 3 to the summit.

From there on, it was a textbook show of composure, and a birdie at the 17th earned him a two-shot lead going down the last. Huizing then displayed the audacity and skill of a true champion by attacking the treacherous pin at the final hole, which was tucked in the front left edge of the green, next to the lake.

His approach pitched ten feet past the hole, a matter of feet from the hazard – to the delight of the watching crowds – and he two-putted for a victory which moves him to third in the Challenge Tour Rankings and virtually guarantees his place on the European Tour in 2014.

“It’s just fantastic to win,” said Huizing, who last year also won the St Andrews Links Trophy.