By Matt Smith
Frenchman Victor Perez had the most appropriate name at the weekend as he held his nerve to claim the DP World Tour Dutch Open thanks to an incredible display of clutch putting, overcoming Ras Al Khaimah champ Ryan Fox in a play-off.

Perez entered the day in a share of the lead but found himself three shots back on the 17th tee as the in-form Fox put on an impressive display.

Hover, it all came apart on the last as a double-bogey from Kiwi Fox saw him sign for a 68 and he left the door open for Perez, who birdied the penultimate hole to head down the par-five 18th back in a share of the lead.

The 29-year-old had six feet to take the title on the final green but missed his putt to stay at 13-under after a 69 and we headed to extra holes for the third time in five events.

A 20-footer kept him in it as both men made a birdie on the first trip back up the 18th and after a pair of pars at the second attempt, he made another lengthy putt. But he was not done there, holing from over 40 feet at the 17th on the fourth play-off hole to seal victory with a birdie.

Perez also earns himself a spot at the 150th Open Championship this summer alongside Fox and Pole Adrian Meronk, with the top three players in the top 10 not exempt heading to St Andrews.

Meronk finished a shot out of the play-off after a 68, a score matched by German Marcel Schneider who finished at 11-under.

Swede Sebastian Soderberg and England’s Matt Wallace were at 10-under, two shots ahead of another Swede in Alexander Björk and Portugal’s Ricardo Gouveia.

“There was a fair amount of fortune, I’ve got to be honest with myself, holing out those long putts in the play-off,” said Perez.

“It’s kind of hard to put into words because it was such a long day and Ryan was off and flying for a while.

“We didn’t even really think we had a chance. Coming down 16 I knew I needed to birdie the last three because to eagle the 18th is almost impossible with the pin and the wind.

“James told me just don’t look at the board and then I holed the one on 17 to be able to come through and the play-off was just a bit of magic.

“I just tried to focus on me all day, that’s all I can do, is try to keep a champion mindset and hit good shot after good shot.

“The chips were going to fall where they were going to fall, it’s almost impossible to predict what is going to happen in golf: guys come out of nowhere and win tournaments and guys take huge leads.

“You just have to focus on you and not look at the board and I was just fortunate to fall on the right side today.”

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