Spain’s Santiago Luna takes inspiration from late Seve Ballesteros to win at Stoke-by-Nayland PGA event

The Madrid golfer revealed he had been thinking of the late Ballesteros throughout the last day which eventually saw him edge out Steen Tinning by two strokes after the Dane had initially carved out a four shot lead in the early part of the round.

Luna picked up four birdies on the front nine and the horse-loving golfer reeled in Tinning with birdies on 12 and 14 before galloping clear with that decisive eagle on 16 as he finished on 14-under-par, two clear of Tinning and four clear of Mark Mouland who also had a 64.

Victory secured Luna his second European Senior Tour title after pipping Sam Torrance to the Scottish Senior Open last year and he pocketed a cheque for 37,000 Euros.

“I was definitely thinking of Seve over certain shots today,” said Luna.

“It’s unbelievable to win such a prestigious tournament as this. I played great, with few mistakes and tried to be in the right place and make a few putts and that was the key. The eagle enabled me to relax a bit.

“I hit two fantastic shots to the edge of the green but the putt was fantastic with just the right line.”

Luna began the day three shots behind Tinning but refused to look at the leaderboard so it wasn’t until the end that he knew he had a chance.

“I didn’t take any notice of what Steen (Tinning) was doing. I just concentrated on my own game,” he added.

“It is difficult to describe how I feel but I’m really happy because my wife is here with me. Last year when I won last year she couldn’t be there so we will really celebrate.”

Tinning eagled 14 and birdied 16 to get back in the mix after bogeys at 11 and 12 but another dropped shot at the last ended his challenge.

Former champion Andrew Oldcorn and Caser Monastario tied fourth with PGA professionals Paul Eales and Andrew Murray in a share of sixth with Philip Golding and Marc Farry.

Collated 4th Round Scores and Totals in the ISPS Handa PGA Seniors Championship, The Stoke By Nayland Hotel, Golf & Spar

(Gbr & Irl Unless stated)

270: Santiago Luna (Spa) 68 71 67 64

272: Steen Tinning (Den) 67 68 68 69

274: Mark Mouland (Wal) 68 71 71 64

275: Andrew Oldcorn (Sco) 73 67 66 69, Cesar Monasterio (Arg) 71 68 69 67

276: Paul Eales 68 69 74 65, Andrew Murray 68 71 68 69, Philip Golding 73 70 67 66, Marc Farry (Fra) 72 70 66 68

277: Barry Lane 71 69 71 66, Chris Williams 69 67 70 71, Andre Bossert (Sui) 73 68 68 68, Gary Emerson 70 68 71 68, Jerry Smith (USA) 68 70 71 68

278: Mark James 68 66 71 73, Jamie Spence 70 68 68 72, Tim Thelen (USA) 70 72 67 69, Ronan Rafferty (Nir) 70 70 68 70

279: Gordon Manson (Aut) 71 67 71 70, Peter Fowler (Aus) 68 74 71 66, Des Smyth 66 75 71 67

280: Luis Carbonetti (Arg) 70 68 73 69

281: Jan-Francois Remesy (Fra) 72 73 70 66, Philip Walton 72 72 69 68, Carl Mason 71 70 69 71

282: Graeme Bell 70 71 71 70, Pedro Linhart (Spa) 71 72 71 68, Paul Curry 75 66 72 69

283: Miguel Angel Martin (Spa) 72 71 71 69, Gordon Brand jnr (Sco) 72 72 71 68

284: Paul Wesselingh 72 70 71 71, Bob Cameron 70 72 72 70, Jerry Bruner (USA) 72 71 67 74, Wraith Grant 70 73 70 71, Andrew Sherborne 73 70 70 71, Rick Gibson (Can) 71 68 72 73, Gary Rusnak (USA) 74 70 70 70

285: Denis O’sullivan 73 70 72 70

286: Gary Wolstenholme 72 73 71 70, Jean Pierre Sallat (Fra) 68 70 75 73, George Ryall 68 75 72 71

287: Steve Cipa 74 69 74 70, Roy Williams (Wal) 77 67 73 70, Robert Ellis 76 70 69 72, Zeke P Martinez (USA) 74 72 72 69, Tony Lawrence 72 70 73 72

288: Paul Mayo (Wal) 71 73 71 73, Angel Franco (Par) 73 70 74 71, Jeff Mathews 76 70 68 74

289: John Harrison 73 73 73 70, David J Russell 73 72 75 69, Malcolm Mackenzie 72 71 73 73

290: Terry Price (Aus) 75 71 67 77, Juan Quiros (Spa) 69 72 74 75, John Gould 77 68 72 73

291: Alastair Webster (Sco) 73 73 75 70

292: Mike Cunning (USA) 71 74 70 77, Tony Johnstone (Zim) 70 71 82 69

293: Jose Manuel Carriles (Spa) 73 71 76 73

300: Francois Illouz (Fra) 76 69 78 77