Another exciting chapter was written in the Peter Baker and Adilson da Silva rivalry after last year’s MCB Road to Mauritius top-two battled in a sudden-death play-off, with the Brazilian coming out on top on this occasion.
Both players birdied the par-5 18th in regulation and revisited the finisher to decide the destiny of the title. Da Silva was greenside in two shots, with Baker facing a massive putt for eagle. Remarkably, they both left the exact same three-foot putt for birdie. Da Silva went first and holed before Baker lipped out, giving the Brazilian his 7th Legends Tour title. It’s a win that takes him top of this year’s MCB Road to Mauritius, having finished 2nd on the season-long Order of Merit in 2022 and 2023. It was Baker who edged him out last season.
Baker had surged through the field with a closing 65 – the best round of the week. The former Ryder Cup player circled five red numbers in his first seven holes to move into contention after starting the day four shots back. He traded a birdie at 10 with his only bogey of the day at 11, before picking up further shots on 15 and 18 to post the clubhouse target of -9.
Da Silva was playing in the final group alongside overnight co-leaders Paul Lawrie and Phillip Archer. He birdied the first three holes and stood on the 18th tee knowing he needed a birdie to force a play-off after making a couple of birdies and a couple of bogeys around the turn. He duly delivered the four he needed after hitting a brilliant second shot onto the green from 214 metres, before claiming his second win of the season on the first extra hole.
“Wow, amazing,” said the man who also won this year’s OFX Irish Legends in a play-off. “I actually peaked at the leaderboard walking to the 17th and 18th. I don’t normally do it, but I knew things were quite close up there. I had a birdie chance on 17 and I didn’t get it, so I knew I needed to make something happen on 18, and I got the birdie to get into the play-off.
“Peter is such a competitor. When you get a chance to get up there, he goes for it and what an amazing round he shot. It shows how good the guy is. To come out on top means a lot to me. It becomes a matchplay situation (in a play-off). There was a little twist to that path (on the birdie putt). I actually hit it straight and it did turn a little bit towards the end and just caught the side edge. I think I hit mine with a little bit more pace than Peter and I could see his putt took quite a big piece out of the hole. It was good to go first in a situation like that.”
Da Silva is delighted to move to the top of the MCB Road to Mauritius with six events left to play this year: “I’m very happy. This year it is absolutely my goal to do my best to finish on top at the end of the year. I’m just going to keep working hard. The competition is so tough out there, the guys are playing such good golf. I think it’s good for me, it makes me work hard. I just have to keep it going.”
Archer held the lead on his own or in a share for most of the day before a bogey on 15 and double bogey on 17 after finding the water off the tee on the par-3 took him out of contention. He birdied the final hole to shoot 71 and finish tied-3rd on -7 alongside Keith Horne and Andrew Raitt, who had rounds of 69 and 68 respectively.
A pair of former Ryder Cup players were tied-6th with Lawrie and Phillip Price finishing the week at -6. It was an excellent fightback for Price, who started the week with a 76 before adding scores of 68 and 66 over the weekend.
Baker’s runner-up finish lifts him to 3rd in the MCB Road to Mauritius, with Scott Hend falling from 2nd to 4thafter a tied-8th result in Andalucia. Greg Owen and Euan McIntosh finished alongside the Australian this week to round out the top 10.
Click here to see the final leaderboard and updated MCB Road to Mauritius standings, and to find out more about the European Legends Cup at Golf Almerimar, Andalucia, Spain.
