France’s Victor Perez made birdie on the fourth hole of a playoff at the Dutch Open to beat New Zealand’s Ryan Fox and capture the second DP World Tour title of his career.
The 29-year-old Perez, who also won the 2019 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, started the day at Bernardus Golf tied for the lead with England’s Matt Wallace (T-5) and finished with a 3-under 69 to stand at 13-under 275. Fox, who pushed his way to the top of the leaderboard with four birdies and one eagle over his first 14 holes, made double bogey at 18 for a 4-under 68 and opened the door for Perez. The two matched birdies through three trips down No. 18 in the playoff, with Perez holing birdie putts from 15 feet and 30 feet to stay alive. They switched to the No. 17 for the fourth playoff hole, where Perez rolled in another long putt for birdie at the par-3 while Fox missed his birdie attempt. “There’s a fair amount of fortune, I’ve got to be honest with myself, holing all those long putts in the playoff,” said Perez, who qualified for The 150th Open Championship in July alongside Fox and Adrian Meronk as the top three finishers in the top 10 not already exempt. It will mark Perez’s second appearance in The Open (MC, 2021). He’s listed in the field for this week’s Porsche European Open at Green Eagle Golf Courses in Hamburg, Germany.