Anthony Wall wins Paul Lawrie Match Play

• Anthony Wall pips Alex Noren to PL Match Play title
• The Englishman ended a 16-year wait for a second win
• The win moves him up more than 100 places in the world

Anthony Wall ended a 16-year wait for his second European Tour win by defeating Alex Noren in the final of the Paul Lawrie Match Play.

The 41-year-old Englishman’s last win came at the Alfred Dunhill Championship way back in January 2000 – making his breakthrough at 16 years and 204 days the longest gap between victories in European Tour history.

“It’s hard to explain how I feel – it’s incredible” – Anthony Wall

It also obliterated the record for the most European Tour events between victories, with Wall’s 430 smashing the 276 events of Christy O’Connor from the 1975 Carrolls Irish Open to the 1992 Jersey European Open.

“It’s gone, thank God for that,” said Anthony Wall. “It’s hard to explain how I feel – it’s incredible. I did believe I could still do it but it was starting to fade after playing so well last year and not doing it and struggling with my back this year, I was starting to wonder.

Read more -> Anthony Wall :: Since he last won…

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“I’m just pleased my family were able to see it – my mum, my dad, my brother and my kids are old enough to understand that their dad’s a winner. They weren’t even born when I won the last time.”

In the match, Wall recovered from 2DN after two holes against the Scottish Open champ, and he admitted he feared the worst in the opening stages with the Swede having been sharp out of the blocks in all of his matches this week.

“I knew if I could hang one through nine I might be able to have a go at him” – Anthony Wall

“Absolutely ,” he said. “He was flushing it and putting great as well and I spoke to James Morrison last night who said that he’d get out of the blocks quickly and I’d have to putt well and hang on with him.

Read more -> Alex Noren clinches ‘biggest win of career’

“So I knew if I could hang one through nine I might be able to have a go at him and to be honest, we both kept playing lovely. It was one of those games that both of us could’ve won 2UP – it was that sort of nip and tuck.”

To sum up the tight nature of the match, Wall went 1UP on the 11th and, from then on, the rest of the holes were halved – with Noren centimetres away from sinking his putt on the last to take it to extra holes.

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Anthony Wall :: Long-awaited win

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