Richard McEvoy celebrating 400th DP World Tour appearance at site of his only DP World Tour victory
- Planet Sport writer
- 1 June 2023
In a fitting occasion, Richard McEvoy is set to mark his 400th DP World Tour appearance at the very location where he clinched his only victory thus far.
Richard McEvoy will fittingly celebrate his 400th DP World Tour appearance at the site of his sole victory to date in Hamburg.
McEvoy birdied the final hole at Green Eagle Golf Courses to win the Porsche European Open in 2018, a week after also tasting victory on the second-tier Challenge Tour.
The 43-year-old has recorded just two top-10 finishes since then and has missed the cut in his three events so far this season, but will bid to draw on the memories of his unlikely win five years ago to kickstart his season.
"Reaching 400 events means a lot," McEvoy said. "I love being out here, I love golf and I love the DP World Tour, formerly the European Tour when I started.
"I've met a lot of friends and have some fantastic memories. Being here in particular at Green Eagle this week is a fitting week to have my 400th event, absolutely.
"It's great to be back. The course is not a course that you would generally see me winning on, hitting it the length I do and being a short hitter on Tour these days and this being one of the longest venues we play at.
"I was full of confidence having won the previous week on the Challenge Tour. I knew on 18 I had a putt to win, but until that point I didn't really think about winning. I was just playing my own game, I was in a good frame of mind."
McEvoy's long wait for a maiden victory ensured the win received plenty of attention, as did the cursory handshake offered by playing partner Bryson DeChambeau.
DeChambeau, who started the day tied for the lead with McEvoy but suffered a late collapse and triple-bogeyed the 18th, later apologised on social media for his "brevity", but McEvoy was more concerned with his own reaction.
"It wasn't a very good celebration unfortunately," he recalled. "It's not something you plan, especially when it happens there and then. I tried to throw my hat in the air and it went terribly wrong.
"But I got a victory and that's the thing I'd dreamt about for years and years and years and finally got there."
Kalle Samooja will defend the title he won in brilliant fashion last year, the Finn carding a closing 64 to overturn a seven-shot deficit.
"I told my dad the evening before that I thought there was a chance to win the tournament because I saw what (Marcus) Armitage did the year before," Samooja said.
"There's always a chance to shoot a low number when you don't really care about the result, you just go out there and do your best.
"That's what I had to do because I didn't know what the guys would do in the afternoon. I just enjoyed the golf and it paid off."
