Crans Montana, Switzerland (SportsNetwork.com) - David Lipsky tapped in his 3-foot putt for par on the first playoff hole to defeat Graeme Storm and win the European Masters on Sunday.
Lipsky fired a final-round, 5-under 65, while Storm carded a 2-under 68 and the two finished regulation on the Alpine Course at Crans-sur-Sierre at 18- under-par 262.
After Lipsky's chip shot rolled within a few feet, Storm missed his nearly 20- foot par putt on the first playoff hole and Lipsky tapped in for the victory. The win is the American's first on the European Tour.
Tyrrell Hatton (65) and Brooks Koepka (67) finished one shot back in a tie for third at 17-under 263, while Danny Willett (63) and Tommy Fleetwood (69) ended tied for fifth at minus-16.
European Ryder Cup team member Jamie Donaldson settled for a 15-under 265 finish following his final-round 67 and he ended in sole possession of seventh place.
Second-round leader Richie Ramsay shot a 2-under 68 Sunday to finish eighth at 14-under 266.
Playing in the penultimate group, Lipsky headed to the final hole of regulation one shot behind the leader Storm, who was in the final pairing. Needing a birdie to put the pressure on Storm, Lipsky put his approach shot on the par-4 within a foot. He kicked that in for a birdie and then watched as Storm parred the last to force a playoff.
On the playoff hole, Lipsky found a fairway bunker on the right, while Storm hit his shot far to the right next to some netting. After taking relief, Storm chipped back into the fairway and Lipsky punched his shot out into the left rough.
"It was a tough shot out of the bunker and, with Graeme only going to make par at best, I decided not to risk going in the water," Lipsky said. "In the end it was the right play, and I'm so pleased to get the job done."
Storm put his third shot about 20 feet past the hole and Lipsky stuck his within three feet.
"It's tough to take right now. I didn't have much time between finishing my final round and starting the playoff, so I probably wasn't as composed as I should've been," Storm said. "So it was obviously disappointing, but overall it's been an unbelievable week. There a lot of emotions flying round right now so I'll have to reflect with a clear head in the morning, but there are definitely lots of positives to take from the week."
Entering the final round three shots back of Storm, Lipsky started his round with a bogey on the second before rattling off three straight birdies from No. 3. An eagle on the par-4 seventh had Lipsky in business, but he gave one of those shots back with a bogey on No. 8 to fall one shot behind Storm, who started his round with back-to-back birdies on one and two to go along with a bogey on four.
Right after Storm birdied the eighth, Lipsky came right back with a gain of his own on the ninth to stay one back at minus-17.
Koepka and Fleetwood both birdied the ninth hole to join Lipsky at minus-17 and another birdie by Koepka on 10 put him in the lead at minus-18 following a Storm bogey on the same hole.
A Koepka bogey on 14 to go along with a Hatton birdie on 15 had Lipsky, Hatton, Storm and Koepka all tied atop the leaderboard.
Storm and Koepka both had gains on the 15th hole to break away from the pack, but Koepka tripped to a bogey to fall back to 17-under and he ended with a par to finish one back.
Hatton had a bogey-free round with five birdies to go with it, while Koepka made six gains to go along with three bogeys, the last of which hurt him in the race for the title.
NOTES: Like Storm did on day three, Wattel (65), who finished tied for ninth at minus-13, made a hole-in-one on the par-3 11th on Sunday ... Thomas Bjorn (68), last year's champion, who has won this event twice to go along with two runner-up finishes, ended tied for 40th at 6-under 274 ... With the win, Lipsky earned 383,300 euros ... Next up for the European Tour is the KLM Open in The Netherlands, where Joost Luiten defeated Miguel Angel Jimenez in a playoff last year.
