The field had been whittled down from 64 on Thursday to the last two men standing on Sunday afternoon and it was a final which whet the appetite, with two-time Major winner Angel Cabrera going head-to-head with 3-times Legends Tour winner and the 2022 MCB Road to Mauritius champion James Kingston facing each other.
There were pleasantries on the tee, but shortly before their tee time a steely focus appeared on both men’s faces.
First blood went the way of the Argentinian, who won the second hole, but in a scrappy front nine where seven holes were halved – it was Kingston winning the 8th hole which would see them head into the turn with the match tied.
Cabrera would win the 12th hole to take the advantage early on in the back nine, only for Kingston to level things again when he won the 14th hole.
But the 2007 US Open and 2009 Masters champion won back-to-back on 15 and 16 to be two up with two to play.
Off the tee at 17, Cabrera missed left and was in the light rough amongst a small group of young trees. Kingston hit the fairway, but his approach shot would end up in the greenside bunker – while Cabrera hit a sublime 8-iron from 177 yards to less than 10 feet. When Kingston hit his bunker shot thin and racing past the pin, the South African conceded the match to Cabrera.
“I’m very happy. I worked hard in the last three months, very hard for this. Now, for this moment, I enjoyed it.
“I had to concentrate and play hole by hole, I like to play match play, you know, we don’t play a lot of match play.
“I can say I feel very emotional now.
“I am going to play next week and then I have to keep working, I’ve got to keep working because this game is very difficult.”
In the play-off for third place, Greig Hutcheon beat Bradley Dredge 2&1.
Next stop for the Legends Tour is Ireland next week and the OFX Irish Legends at Seapoint Golf Links in County Louth, where Angel Cabrera will once again be in the field as will Michael Campbell – fresh from his time at Pinehurst No.2 in North Carolina for the US Open last week; his first visit there since he won the US Open in 2005.
It is the first event in Legends Tour history to feature five Major champions in the field, and they have six Major titles between them:
Ian Woosnam (1991 Masters)
Paul Lawrie (1999 Open Championship)
Shaun Micheel (2003 US PGA)
Michael Campbell (2005 US Open)
Angel Cabrera (2007 US Open, 2009 Masters)
