Kipp Popert won his third consecutive G4D Tour @ BMW PGA Championship title with a stunning four-shot victory at Wentworth Club.
The Englishman entered the second round tied at the top with Irishman Brendan Lawlor but showed exactly why he is World Number One with a 69 that gave him a six under total.
The duo could not be separated as they both turned in 35 on the West Course but Popert made a hat-trick of gains from the 14th to stretch clear and win his third individual G4D Tour title of the season.
He also won the G4D Tour Nations Cup @ Betfred British Masters alongside Heather Gilks and now has 12 G4D Tour wins to his name.
Popert quickly jumped out into a two-shot lead with a birdie-birdie start as Lawlor bogeyed the first but picked the shot straight back up on the second.
A Lawlor birdie on the fourth and Popert bogey on the next then had the playing partners locked together once again, with Lawlor registering another birdie and bogey before the turn.
Popert made eight pars in a row as the Irishman bogeyed the 11th and birdied the 13th but the Englishman’s stunning run of scoring saw him surge clear, with a Lawlor bogey on the last ensuring a four-shot win.
For Lawlor, it is a seventh G4D runner-up finish, with his one victory coming at last year’s inaugural G4D Open.
England’s Mike Browne and Australian Lachlan Wood, both winners this season, finished in a tie for third at four over.
Popert said: “That was incredible. I felt quite a lot of pressure this week, because I would love to have won three times in a row, and I wanted to shoot some good scores. Me and Brendan had a great battle today and yesterday. He is very close to being back to his best, it’s awesome to see and I’m really chuffed for him. I really enjoyed it. People say I don’t smile, but I do smile internally. If I smile too much I don’t concentrate!
“It was a great battle – to be honest I was just trying to hole as many putts as I could. I just didn’t want to give away the trophy. I love winning and I love competing with Brendan. Today it went my way, and there will be times in my career when it won’t and he’ll get the victory. I’m chuffed to be standing here. To win it three times, I’m really proud of myself for that. I work really hard, so I’m chuffed.
“It was awesome (to get a photo with Colin Montgomerie and my dad). My dad said Monty was coming today. I saw him, and then on 15 I thought, hit a little baby fade into the wind and show him I can hit a little fade like him. I think I fist pumped because that’s a really difficult tee shot.
“I had my dad, my cousin and some friends here as well. So thank you to all of them for coming, it was great fun.
“It’s just golf, it’s a bit of luck isn’t it? I’ve been playing the G4D Tour now for a couple of years, my aspirations are to play professionally in disability golf mainly because I think that will help to grow the sport, but also in able bodied golf. I work extremely hard, I reflect on every win or loss and I learn. Ben, my caddie, is incredible and I can’t thank him enough – I probably don’t say it enough. We’re just getting better at golf, the same thing I was trying to do when I was 12. I just love it.”
The 2024 G4D Tour schedule concludes with the G4D Tour Series Finale @ DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai on November 15-16.
