Markus Brier claimed a long-awaited maiden Legends Tour title at the Farmfoods European Senior Masters hosted by Peter Baker.
The Austrian, who has finished runner-up in this event on his last two starts, posted a three over par 75 to finish on a five under for the week and two shots clear of Argentina’s Rafael Gomez.
Paul Lawrie and James Kingston shared third place on two under par, while Englishman Gary Marks and Clark Dennis finished fifth on one under par.
Brier, 53, was overjoyed to get the job done after admitting he felt the pressure on the final day at Forest of Arden Marriott Hotel & Country Club in Warwickshire.
“It feels amazing,” he said. “It was such a battle and I couldn’t remember how difficult it was to actually win. I played very good for nine holes today, but then I began to actually think too much and then I made a few bogeys which meant it was difficult at the end but I am so happy.
“I made a little mistake at the ninth, a three-putt on ten and suddenly the pressure creeped in and I kept making bad swings and bogeys. Rafael just kept going but fortunately he made a bogey on 16, which gave me a bit of breathing spacebut the back nine was certainly not easy.”
Brier, who had to complete 12 holes of his second round on Sunday morning, which meant the Austrian played 30 holes on day three, believed he reaped the rewards of the work he has put into the mental side of his game in recent years.
“I had to take a few deep breaths and think about what I have been doing the last 20 years on the mental side of my game,” he continued. “That definitely helped me hit some good shots when it mattered, especially my short game.”
During the tournament, Brier wore ZOOM’s one-size golf glove and debuted the latest Laser Rangefinder from the brand. After securing victory he commented: “In the difficult weather on Saturday I got a lot of confidence from using my ZOOM glove and ZOOM laser rangefinder. Through the wind and rain I kept a great connection to my clubs and was confident in all my distances. I am proud to achieve my first Legends Tour win as part of the team at ZOOM.”
Brier, who is co-designer of ZOOM’s premium one-size glove range, put the brand’s new Focus S laser into play, having picked it up at the brand’s Vienna HQ from his former caddy Gerhard Rainer, who now works at ZOOM.
Speaking as he prepared for the tournament, Brier commented: “The new ZOOM Focus S is amazing. It’s easy to use and finds the target in a split second. I am already enjoying using it and look forward to working with it on Tour.”
ZOOM is set to launch the Focus S worldwide in Spring 2022. The new design is ZOOM’s third Laser model, following on from the award winning Focus X and Focus Tour.
“Markus is part of the ZOOM family, so we’re delighted that he has achieved this fantastic win at such a prestigious event.” said Thomas Reiter, owner of ZOOM. “To see our brand new rangefinder out on Tour in advance of its spring launch was very exciting and it made me very proud to see Markus putting in such an incredible performance with the help of ZOOM and the products he helped to design.”
Brier now heads to his native Austria as a Legends Tour winner for the Riegler & Partner Legends at Golf Club Murhof, where he is hoping to replicate this week’s success.
“I am looking to forward to playing in Austria next week,” he added.”Our promoter in Austria probably feels I should have won next week instead! I hope it’s a great week and we have a big crowd. I will have a little celebration beforehand.”