Darius van Driel won his first European Tour championship on Sunday at the Kenya Open, two strokes ahead of Joe Dean and Nacho Elvira.
The Dutch golfer lost his card last season, but he graduated from the Tour’s qualifying school and won on his 112th outing. Van Driel, who started the event with a 66, was tied for the lead around the turn on Sunday before pulling away with an eagle at the tenth hole. Van Driel’s milestone win propelled him to sixth place in the Race to Dubai rankings.
Dean, a qualifying school graduate like the winner, had an eagle chance from 12 feet on the final hole to put pressure on Van Driel, but had to settle for a birdie and a share of second place.
It was an outstanding effort by the 29-year-old Englishman, who was only last week working as a delivery driver to support his golfing career.