Markus Brier has won the Black Desert NI Legends at Galgorm, holding his nerve in strong winds on the final day to claim a first Legends Tour victory since 2021.
Rounds of 65, 69 and 70 saw him finish at -12, two clear of Sweden’s Mikael Lundberg, with Lionel Alexandre and Phillip Price a further shot back at -9. Steve Webster – a winner last week at the Grass & Co. English Legends – birdied the last two holes to secure a solo 5th place finish.
After a number of years struggling to find his game, two-time DP World Tour winner Brier was delighted to be back in the winner’s circle after a masterclass in course management and shotmaking. “I’m so happy. The last two years were not what I wanted so to come back like this in Northern Ireland just feels so good,” said the Austrian.
“The first couple of holes I hit a few really good shots, so that gave me some confidence. And then I just kept holing putts like I did all week. You need a bit of luck to win and I had a few lip ins. I got a bit shaky at the end but I haven’t won for four years so I’m just happy that it was enough.”
Having begun the day at -10, two clear of Lundberg and three clear of Simon Griffiths, the Austrian birdied the second as his playing partners faltered, with both dropping shots at the first.
But it was far from a formality for Brier on the front nine as the wind picked up, and he was forced to rely on his short-game skills on holes 6, 7 and 8 to save par and maintain his forward momentum.
A comfortable birdie on the 9th then took him five clear, after a stunning 5-iron to 20ft on the par-five, but once again he was unable relax as Lionel Alexandre – who had just eagled both the 9th and 10th – birdied the 12th to reach -10.
But as he has done so often this week, Brier again showed great resilience to produce two moments of magic at a time when they were most needed. A pin-point approach on the par-3 14th set up a tap-in birdie, and he followed that with another cracking iron shot on 15 that yielded another birdie and propelled him towards victory.
“Those birdies were big because some of the guys reached -10, so although I was playing well I knew I had to hit some really good shots,” said Brier. “So that was great to make those and have a few shots in hand for the last three holes.
“Winning again means everything to me. We’re out here to win, and if you haven’t won and not even been in contention for years, it’s hard. But it’s what I work for and I now know that I’m on the right path and I hope I can keep it going. I’ve found something with my swing and now I have confidence with the putter as well.”
Sweden’s Lundberg was left to rue three front-nine bogeys as he finished two adrift of Brier, and although he did manage to apply some pressure with birdies at 17 and 18 to reach -10 it was never quite enough. Solo second does at least lift him up to seventh on the Order of Merit, with victory seeing Brier rise to 12th. Australia’s Scott Hend still leads from Keith Horne, with 2023 winner Peter Baker now third.
Lionel Alexandre, who needs a top-20 finish in the Order of Merit to secure his card for next year is now 22nd, having recorded a first top-five since he went T4 and T3 in the two events of the season. “I was not expecting that,” he said afterwards. “I knew I was playing well, but my putting was not there. So I tried to be a bit more focused on the pace of the greens and it seems to work. It was a good day today. I’m used to playing in the wind so I just tried to keep the ball in play and take it shot by shot. I’m happy to birdie 18 and we move on. Hopefully next week is going to be as good as this one.”
Earlier in the week, 16 young elite amateurs from Northern Ireland took part in the Legends Tour’s Future Legends, presented by Black Desert Resort. After two rounds playing alongside Legends Tour professionals, 13-year-old Parker Bonnes – a member at Galgorm – claimed victory with an impressive 81 stableford points.
The Legends Tour now moves on to San Sebastian in Spain for the European Legends Cup, hosted by José María Olazábal.
The Winning Moment
