The 34-year-old Elvira was a wire-to-wire winner at Celtic Manor Resort, site of the 2010 Ryder Cup, although he didn’t make it easy on himself. After shooting rounds of 64-67-66, Elvira held a six-shot lead going into the final round, but opened the door to Harding with an even-par 71 on Sunday, which he capped with a bogey at 18 to force a playoff. Elvira took the title – his first in 195 starts – with a par on the first extra hole. “It means the world,” he said following the win. “That’s what we practice for and what we strive for. We try to win, to be at the best level on the European Tour and play with the best. It means the world to me.” His best previous finished were three runner-up results, with two of them coming in a playoff and the last being at the 2019 Maybank Championship. Elvira has four wins on the European Challenge Tour, however, but he arrived in Wales having not recorded a top 10 for more than two years and with nine missed cuts in his last 11 events. He now stands 6-for-16 on the season. Elvira is in the field for this week’s ISPS Handa World Invitational at Galgorm Castle GC and Massereene GC in Northern Ireland. Last year at Galgrom in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, he finished T-39.
