The Scotsman started the day four shots off the lead, but he made nine birdies on his way to the best round of the week and a -13 total that was enough to see off overnight leader Simon Khan and Scott Hend, who finished tied-2nd on -11.
It was a birdie-fest on the La Forêt course at Le Touquet, especially on the front nine, and as many as 15 players had a genuine chance of winning as a dramatic final round unfolded in northern France.
Hutcheon made a good start with birdies at the 1st and 3rd holes. He dropped a shot at the par-5 5th but bounced straight back with a birdie two at the 6th. He thrust himself into contention with a birdie barrage of four in a row from the 9th that got him into a share of the lead.
Three pars followed before he broke clear with back-to-back birdies at 16 and 17. He burned the edge for birdie from 20 feet on the final hole, but his magnificent 64 set the clubhouse target at -13. Khan, Hend and Robert Coles had a chance to catch him, but they couldn’t find enough late birdies to force a play-off.
“I’m absolutely delighted,” said the three-time Challenge Tour winner. “It’s a lesson in perseverance and just sort of battling on through quite a few injuries, and so on. So yeah, I think it’s determination that has got me here.
“I didn’t really expect to get in the mix as much. I started the day on five-under and just hoped for a good round. I was hoping to get to ten-under – that was my target at the start of the day. I managed to shoot three-under on the front nine and then birdied 10, 11 and 12. And I managed to sneak a couple more at 16 and 17. I thought I might be there or thereabouts, so I did have a feeling that I was going along quite well. But I was a little unsure about exactly how things stood until I saw the leaderboard at 17.”
His finish was testament to how well his swing and putting stroke stood up under the pressure of going for your first win: “I managed to just swing the club on plane really and hit some nice shots trying not to get too much shape on the ball. And let the putter do the work, you know. I did have a good day on the greens. I holed some nice putts today. The greens were fantastic – they were a great pace and very true. They were a joy to putt on.”
Hutcheon finished 8th on the MCB Road to Mauritius in his rookie season last year, and his first win on the circuit takes the 51-year-old to 7th on this year’s standings.
While most players were racking up birdies on the first few holes, Khan dropped shots on the 1st and 4th to find himself playing catch up for the first time all week. He fought back valiantly with red numbers on the 5th, 11th, 16th and 17th, but his 70 just wasn’t quite enough for his first Legends Tour win.
Hend looked like the man to beat early on as he started with two birdies and added another at the 5th to quicky reach -10. But he only made one more birdie for the rest of the day – at the par-5 11th. He missed a four-footer for birdie at the 17th and parred 18 for a bogey-free 68. His tied-2nd finish takes him back to 2nd in the MCB Road to Mauritius.
Coles was in a share of the lead early on the back nine, but he played his last seven holes in one-over-par with a bogey at the par-5 16th. His closing 70 saw him finish in a tie for 3rd alongside Patrik Sjöland, Scott Drummond, Simon Griffiths and last week’s winner in India, Joakim Haeggman. Sjöland, who beat Hutcheon to Barry Lane Rookie of the Year honours last season, shot a brilliant bogey-free 65.
Phillip Archer and Euan McIntosh were tied-9th on -9, with Michael Long alone in 11th a shot further back.
CLICK HERE to see the final leaderboard and updated MCB Road to Mauritius standings, and to find out more about the Legends Open de France presented by CLA at Le Touquet Golf Resort.
