Former Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn won the season finale of the Legends Tour in Mauritius as James Kingston won the Senior Tour’s Order of Merit.
The Dane shot a closing 67 in the MCB championship at Belle Mare Plage to win by seven strokes ahead of South African Kingston and Englishman Simon Brown.
He led by four going into the final day after a course record 61 on Saturday.
Kingston recovered from an opening 74 to seal the title on merit from Brazilian Adilson de Silva, who was tied for fourth.
Kingston’s first lap had given Da Silva hope for an unlikely victory in the race for merit, but the overall leader responded with a 64 and a 65.
Those laps, combined with his closest bogey challenger last, meant Kingston finished a shot ahead of Da Silva in Mauritius and more than 500 points ahead on the order of merit.
Welshman Philip Price – who could have claimed the title had he won in Mauritius – managed a poor 75th final round to find himself 25th, although the 2010 Ryder Cup hero remained third overall.
Paul Lawrie – who did not play in Mauritius – finished fourth in the order of merit, with fellow Scot Euan McIntosh sixth.
McIntosh’s decision to turn pro again three years ago continues to look good.
He originally joined the paid ranks in 1990 but, after regaining his amateur status, he became the oldest player in 35 years to win the Scottish Amateur aged 49 in 2018.
This victory encouraged him to turn professional again and he obtained his Legends Tour card the following year.
Bjorn, whose previous performance at the tournament was in Madrid in October, started in shaky fashion on the Legend course at Belle Mare Plage, making three bogeys in his first seven holes.
But his bogey on 7 was the last shot he dropped all week, playing the next 47 holes at 19 under par.
“I was in no shape as such heading into this event, but as soon as I saw the Belle Mare Plage course, I loved it. It suited me perfectly,” said Bjorn, whose son Oliver was the caddy for him.
“I took advantage of the par five and once in front I was able to play reasonably and not give others the feeling that they could catch me.
“It was Oliver’s first time on the sack for me so he’s one for one; I told him he has to do another week when I’m not doing so well so he sees what I really look like.”
Miguel Angel Martin played with Bjorn in the final group, but while the former Ryder Cup player made no bogeys in his five-under final round, the Spaniard dropped four shots in nine holes at the middle of his to fall.
Martin’s 72 left him a share of sixth on 11 under with England’s Paul Eales and Phil Archer as well as New Zealand’s Michael Long.
Swedish duo Joakim Haeggman – last week’s winners at Constance Lemuria in the Seychelles – and fellow former Ryder Cup player Jarmo Sandelin were in the group behind but failed to mount a challenge as they shot 72 and 77 respectively.
The charismatic Sandelin accidentally broke his driver on the 18th tee on Saturday and only used a new one twice on his final run, making a double bogey each time.
He finished tied for 16th with former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley while two former Major champions, Tom Lehman and Michael Campbell, tied for 37th.
