Family ban works out as Ferguson wins again

SCOTLAND’S Ewen Ferguson claimed his second DP World Tour title of the season with a wire-to-wire win in the ISPS Handa World Invitational. Ferguson, who began the week with a course-record 61 at Galgorm Castle and was never headed, carded a closing 69 at the same venue to finish 12 under par, three shots clear of close friend Connor Syme and Spaniard Borja Virto. The 26-year-old, who won the Qatar Masters in March, took a three-shot lead into the final round but had company at the top of the leaderboard when England’s Richard Mansell covered his first ten holes in five under par. Ferguson responded with his third birdie of the day on the tenth and although Virto closed to within a shot thanks to five birdies in seven holes around the turn, the 31-year-old promptly bogeyed the 14th. With Mansell dropping shots on three of the last four holes, that gave Ferguson some welcome breathing space and playing partner Syme birdied the 15th, 16th and 18th to finish runner-up for the second week in succession. ‘It feels unbelievable, I just can’t believe how calm I was out there,’ Ferguson told Sky Sports. ‘It couldn’t have worked out any better playing with Connor. I played with him the first two days and he was playing so, so good and I felt he was my main rival, so managing to play with him and kind of holding each other off and trying to keep up with each other was so good. I can’t believe I’m a winner again. ‘My mum and dad were supposed to be here this week but the last tournament they watched didn’t go well, so I banned them because I said I need to focus. ‘My whole family’s life revolves around me playing golf. Their happiness seems like it’s all about me and my golf. ‘It’s been a good year and obviously you get times where it doesn’t go so well, so I think you really need to appreciate times when you’re picking up trophies.’ In the women’s tournament, Sweden’s Maja Stark stormed to a five-shot win courtesy of a stunning closing 63.