{"id":21990,"date":"2025-02-16T07:02:56","date_gmt":"2025-02-16T06:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ladiesingolf.com\/?p=21990"},"modified":"2025-02-17T07:03:08","modified_gmt":"2025-02-17T06:03:08","slug":"griffiths-cruises-to-staysure-marbella-legends-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ladiesingolf.com\/en\/griffiths-cruises-to-staysure-marbella-legends-victory\/","title":{"rendered":"Griffiths cruises to Staysure Marbella Legends victory"},"content":{"rendered":"

Simon Griffiths produced another hugely impressive performance to win the opening event of the 2025 Legends Tour season with a -15 total \u2013 holding off the likes of Colin Montgomerie, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Stephen Gallacher and Scott Hend in the final round.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He started the day with a two-shot lead and picked up birdies at the 1st<\/sup> and 8th<\/sup> to maintain that advantage as he headed into the back nine. While many of the chasers struggled to mount a serious charge on the way home, Griffiths pulled away with further red numbers at the 10th<\/sup>, 12th<\/sup> and 15th<\/sup>. A closing bogey didn\u2019t matter as the 51-year-old made the perfect start to the new season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing, I\u2019m over the moon,\u201d said the champion. \u201cI knew I had a two-shot lead and then I birdied the first, but then Monty made a couple of birdies, and I knew someone would make a run. I did have a look at the leaderboard towards the last few holes because Hendy was on the charge, and I made a great birdie on 15, which was huge because you need as many in the bank as you can get. That was massive. I saw he finished on -13, and then it was just about not doing anything stupid coming in.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I probably don\u2019t enjoy it as much as I should because this game is so hard. But I\u2019m thrilled to have got another win so quickly. So yeah, I\u2019m very, very happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Griffiths shared an emotional phone call with his young family after he finished the round: \u201cIt\u2019s incredible to share these moments. My family are everything to me.”<\/p>\n

Griffiths\u2019 story is one of resilience after narrowly missing out on getting through Legends Tour and PGA Tour Champions Q School for the 2023 season. He finished one place away from earning his card for the PGA Tour Champions Tour in December 2022 and Legends Tour<\/a> in January 2023, before booking his place 12 months later.<\/p>\n

Even then, there was adversity as he suffered a wrist injury that he\u2019s still battling now. He\u2019s been able to manage the pain and showed what he was capable of when playing regularly with a sensational run of form over the second half of last year. He won the Farmfoods European Senior Masters at La Manga, and had a 2nd<\/sup>, a 3rd<\/sup>, a 4th<\/sup>, a 5th<\/sup>, a 6th<\/sup> and an 8th<\/sup> in his last nine tournaments to finish 4th<\/sup> on the Order of Merit<\/strong> and claim the Barry Lane Rookie of the Year Award. He now sits atop the fledgling Order of Merit standings.<\/p>\n

Scott Hend emerged as Griffith\u2019s nearest challenger, but the Aussie had to settle for 2nd<\/sup> place. He flew through the field with a best-of-the-week 64 that featured 10 birdies, including seven in an eight-hole stretch from the 9th<\/sup>. It\u2019s a good start to the year for the man who finished 3rd<\/sup> on the Order of Merit in 2024.<\/p>\n

Mikael Lundberg signed for a 67 to finish alone in 3rd<\/sup>. The Swede went out in 33 and picked up shots on the 10th<\/sup> and 17th<\/sup> in a bogey-free back nine.<\/p>\n

Local hero Jimenez came into the week as favourite after winning the Trophy Hassan II on the PGA Tour Champions last week and he finished in a four-way tie for 4th<\/sup>. The iconic Spaniard birdied all four of the par-5s and gave his adoring fans something to cheer with a fifth birdie of the day at the 18th<\/sup>, but three dropped shots resulted in a 70.<\/p>\n

He was joined on -10 by debutant Matthew Cort, 2023 Legends Tour number one Peter Baker and Q School graduate Lionel Alexandre, who shots rounds of 68, 69 and 70, respectively. Former Ryder Cup player Stephen Gallacher finished 8th<\/sup> in his first Legends Tour start on -9.<\/p>\n

Montgomerie started the day in 2nd<\/sup> place, but he slipped to tied-9th<\/sup> with a 73. Two-time Masters champion Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Olaz\u00e1bal and last year\u2019s Zambia Golf Legends Championship winner Keith Horne completed the top-10 alongside Monty on -8.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Simon Griffiths produced another hugely impressive performance to win the opening event of the 2025 Legends Tour season with a -15 total \u2013 holding off the likes of Colin Montgomerie, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Stephen Gallacher and Scott Hend in the final round. He started the day with a two-shot lead and picked up birdies at<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":21991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[]},"categories":[865,45,894,864,881],"tags":[467,4336,4337],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t