Estanislao Goya wins Madeira Islands Open

Estanislao Goya of Argentina held on by the skin of his teeth to win the Madeira Islands Open BPI – Portugal by a single shot from Scotland’s Calum Macaulay.

Estanislao Goya
Fergus Bisset
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Estanislao Goya of Argentina held on by the skin of his teeth to win the Madeira Islands Open BPI – Portugal by a single shot from Scotland’s Calum Macaulay at Porto Santo Golfe.

The 20-year-old from Cordoba looked comfortable at the top of the leaderboard, but a double bogey at the 16th combined with an incredible late surge from Macaulay meant the Argentine had to par the last two holes to secure his first European Tour win.

He managed it and claimed victory in just his sixth European Tour start. It earned him a cheque for €116,660 and a two-year exemption on the European Tour.

“It’s great for me – I am so happy to have made one of my dreams come true.” He said. “It’s amazing that I have my Tour card for the next two years and a win here in Madeira. It was just over a year ago that I was thinking how much I would love to play in Europe and here I am now having won – it has happened so quickly.”

Macaulay, who’d only just scraped through the cut at six over after two rounds and had been 11 strokes behind with just nine holes to play, came home in a scintillating 28. It was a fabulous effort but, in the end, not quite enough and the 25-year-old had to settle for second place.

“To come back in 28 is unbelievable really. I don’t think I have ever done that at my home course, never mind here on The European Tour.” He said. “It’s a great result for me, and it will certainly help the confidence. I always felt that I could compete out here if I played my best and I suppose this just confirms that. It’s brilliant to have finished second and I can go to the next two tournaments with a lot of belief in myself.”

Ireland’s Damien McGrane had a disappointing final round of one over par 72 to end the week in a tie for third with Wil Besseling of Holland.

Michael Hoey of Northern Ireland was the halfway leader but he faded with rounds of 75 and 72 over the weekend to finish alone in sixth, one shot behind Anthony Wall of England.

Madeira Islands Open BPI - Portugal Porto Santo Golfe, Portugal Mar 19-22, purse €700,000, par 71

1    Estanislao Goya (Arg)    68    68    69    73    278    €116,660 2    Callum Macaulay (Sco)    74    74    67    64    279    €77,770 T3    Wil Besseling (Ned)    69    72    70    69    280    €39,410 T3    Damien McGrane (Ire)    66    72    70    72    280    €39,410 5    Anthony Wall (Eng)    72    69    73    67    281    €29,680 6    Michael Hoey (NIR)    69    66    75    72    282    €24,500 T7    Thomas Aiken (RSA)    72    69    71    71    283    €19,250 T7    Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 66    70    75    72    283    €19,250 T9    David Drysdale (Sco)    72    72    71    69    284    €14,840 T9    Jan-Are Larsen (Nor)    71    71    76    66    284    €14,840

Note: Players in bold signifies Titleist ball usage only

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Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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