Woburn, England – World number one Kipp Popert secured a thrilling one-shot victory over Brendan Lawlor to claim The G4D Open title at Woburn’s Duchess Course.
The victory marks Popert’s tenth title on the G4D Tour, underscoring his dominance in the world of disabled golf.
In a final-round showdown between the top two players on the World Ranking for Golfers with Disability (WR4GD), Popert’s closing two-over-par 74 secured a winning total of one-over 217.
This triumph was especially sweet for the 25-year-old Englishman, who has cerebral palsy, as he narrowly lost to Lawlor in last year’s inaugural championship.
Ireland’s Brendan Lawlor, who has Ellis–van Creveld syndrome, delivered a strong defence of his title but ultimately finished with a four-over 76, ending at 218. Lawlor, 27, held a slender overnight lead and extended it with a birdie on the opening hole. However, double bogeys on the par-3 2nd and 7th holes allowed Popert to take the lead with a birdie on the 8th.
“It’s great to win. I was playing well coming into this week but I didn’t really have my A game the first day. It was nice to come out on top at the end of the week in the battle with Brendan.
“I thought I did a good job on the front nine today and on the back I just tried to hit greens. I wanted to just keep it in play, what my coach has told me to do, hitting to 15 feet and such like. It goes against my instinct to be honest because I want to go as low as I can.
“I think what I was most pleased with was on the last hole. Again, I thought ‘I’m going to push this to 15 feet’. I felt like the pressure was there but I handled it.
“There was quite a lot of people and I was just trying to focus. I won the US Adaptive Open last year with the USGA so I’ve now got both at the same time. I’m pretty excited to get home and put them next to each other.”
Kipp Popert, England
Popert encountered trouble on the demanding par-4 9th, resulting in a double bogey, while Lawlor also dropped a shot, leaving them tied at one-over heading into the back nine.
Popert’s birdie on the 10th and Lawlor’s consecutive bogeys on the 10th and 11th gave Popert a three-shot lead.
However, Lawlor fought back with birdies on the 15th and 16th, bringing the duo level again.
Lawlor’s heavy approach shot on the 17th led to a crucial bogey, allowing Popert to secure victory with a par on the final hole.
Tournament Highlights and Structure
The G4D Open, established last year, is a pioneering event in disabled golf, held in partnership between the DP World Tour and The R&A, and supported by EDGA (formerly the European Disabled Golf Association).
The event is known for its inclusivity, featuring nine sport classes across multiple impairment groups.
This year, 80 players, both men and women, aged 15-68 from 19 countries, competed, showcasing the global reach and diversity of the tournament.
Women’s Champion
Dutch player Daphne van Houten, ranked 25th on the WR4GD, emerged as the Women’s Champion. Van Houten, who suffers from scoliosis, finished 17 shots ahead of England’s Aimi Bullock, marking a dominant performance.
Both Popert and van Houten were presented with new trophies, symbolizing the diverse journeys and challenges faced by the competitors.
Category Winners
The G4D Open also awarded gross prizes in each sport class, which included categories for Standing, Intellectual, Visual, and Sitting disabilities, further emphasizing the inclusive nature of the event.
The men’s gross prize winners were as follows:
- Intellectual 1: Cameron Pollard, Australia
- Intellectual 2: Thomas Blizzard, England
- Standing 1: Juan Postigo Arce, Spain
- Standing 2: Kipp Popert, England
- Standing 3: Brendan Lawlor, Ireland
- Sitting 1: Terry Kirby, England
- Sitting 2: Richard Kluwen, The Netherlands
- Visual 1: Paul O’Rahilly, Ireland
- Visual 2: John Eakin, England
The women’s gross prize winners were as follows:
- Intellectual 2: Erika Malmberg, Sweden
- Standing 1: Alessandra Donati, Italy
- Standing 2: Aimi Bullock, England
- Standing 3: Daphne van Houten, The Netherlands
Final scores from the sport classes can be viewed here.
Highlights from the Championship will be aired on Sky Sports Golf from Monday 27 May at 5pm and throughout that week.
Woburn continued its rich history of hosting amateur and professional championships with Final Qualifying for The Open from 2014 to 2017 and most recently the AIG Women’s Open in 2019, both played on the Marquess Course.
