Aiken loses in Nordea playoff

Paul Waring defeated South Africa’s Thomas Aiken in a playoff to win his first European Tour title at the Nordea Masters.

The duo entered the final round at Hills Golf Club tied for the lead and could not be separated over 18 holes as they both fired rounds of 68 to get to 14 under on an enthralling afternoon in the Gothenburg rain.

When they returned to the 18th tee, Aiken put his first shot in the water and a par from Waring saw him claim his maiden win at the 200th attempt.

For Aiken, this week represents a welcome return to form as he has three European Tour victories but had achieved just one top 10 this term before arriving in Sweden.

‘There are a lot of positive things to take to the next few weeks,’ he said.

‘The ball just didn’t find the hole.

‘Obviously disappointed with the playoff but that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes and we’ve got a lot of positivity to build on in the next two months.’

Aiken holed from the fringe on the 1st to take the lead but Waring responded with a long putt on the 2nd as his playing partner missed a birdie effort from six feet.

An excellent approach into the 3rd left Aiken with four feet for a birdie and he made no mistake to edge ahead.

He almost found the water on the next and failed to get up-and-down and when he missed the green off the tee on the par-three 5th, it was back-to-back bogeys.

Waring hit his tee shot to ten feet on the par-three 10th to open up a two-shot lead and while Aiken cut the gap with a birdie after driving the 12th, the man from the Wirral hit another excellent first into the 13th to re-establish his cushion.

A first bogey of the day on the 15th cut the lead to one and Aiken got up-and-down from the sand on the last for a birdie to set up the playoff.

Haydn Porteous claimed a top 10 ahead of his defence next week in Prague.