Andrew Johnston claims second title

New Delhi: Andrew Johnston sparkled under lights at Canary Wharf, winning his second Hero Challenge of 2018 in London.

The crowd favourite overcame a strong challenge from world No. 2 and tournament host, Justin Rose, defending British Masters champion Paul Dunne, Hero Indian Open winner Matt Wallace and Danish Ryder Cup heroes skipper Thomas Bjorn and Thorbjorn Olesen.

The players had to find “floating pontoon green” off a custom built target platform being used as a tee-box. They were split into two groups, with each player having six shots to score as many points as they could. The top two players from each group advanced to the semi-finals.

In Group One, Johnston made a splash of his first shot, putting it into the water before he scored the first points of the evening as he spun the ball back for 20 points. He failed to score with his final four shots and totalled 20.

Reigning Hero Indian Open champion, Wallace, put the first two shots in water but scored five with the third for his only points. That left Rose an easy target to beat to make the semi-finals.

Rose hit what was probably the most spectacular shot of the evening, pitching almost straight into the hole to secure 50 points. He followed that up with a 15 and a 20 and landed yet another shot on the last hit for a whopping total of 90 points.

In Group Two, Ryder Cup Captain Bjorn got a massive ovation even though he missed with his first five shots but the last shot fetched him 20. Dunne scored 25 with his second ball and added a ten with the last. Olesen missed his first four shots but he spun his fifth shot back for the second bullseye (50 points) of the night and earned a place in the semi-finals. In the first semi-final, Rose and Dunne missed their first three hits and then Dunne scored ten with his fourth and 20 with his last. Rose shot just

15 and Dunne was through. In the second semi-final, Olesen scored 15 with his opener and Johnston matched it with his fourth shot before the latter scored another 15 with his final ball to advance.

Dunne got on the board first in the final, scoring a five with his second ball, but Johnson registered a 20 with his fifth and when Dunne came up short and went into the water with his last shot, Johnston’s final attempt was a mere formality.