John Catlin clinched his fifth national open title after coming through a mammoth play-off to win the English Open supported by HotelPlanner.
The 35-year-old American birdied the seventh play-off hole at the Vale Golf Club in Worcestershire to beat Norwegian Kristian Krogh Johannessen, after they matched pars on each of the first six additional holes.
Earlier, the duo couldn’t be separated in regulation play, both finishing on 18 under par, Johannessen birdieing the 16th and 17th hole for a round of 66 to finish on the same score of 270 as Catlin, who signed for a 67.
Following five further attempts at the 18th hole, and two more trips down the ninth, Catlin’s first birdie in the play-off was enough to register his first HotelPlanner Tour win propelling the 35-year-old up 231 spots to 18th on the Road to Mallorca Rankings.
“That was some battle out there and to come out victorious is something I’m really proud of,” he said. “I kept battling and finally one of the putts went in, which happened to be on the seventh play-off hole. To add the English Open to the other national opens I’ve won is very special.”
Having previously come through play-offs at the Austrian Golf Open on the DP World Tour and Thailand Open on the Asian Tour, the Californian was happy with how he handled the pressure.
“I’ve had a lot of past experience in play-offs which really helped today,” Catlin added. “My coach has helped me handling pressure and when you’re in those battles that’s what you have to do. You must go out and perform and having those experiences in the past was huge and helped me get over the line.”
The English Open supported by HotelPlanner returned to the golfing calendar for first time in 24 years this week, with Catlin joining a storied list of previous winners including Colin Montgomerie, Seve Ballesteros, Ian Woosnam and Darren Clarke.
Catlin added the title to his other national open victories in Austria, Ireland, Thailand and Saudi Arabia.
“Any time you’re playing in a national open is special,” he said. “To have my name alongside the previous winners of this tournament is extra special. This one is extra sweet after everything I’ve been through the past two years, to get the win is really satisfying.”