Kent the toast of Gosling’s

Kent Fukushima held his nerve to win the 2013 Gosling’s Invitational at Belmont Hills yesterday.

The Canadian professional had a one-shot lead from Joe Horowitz going down the last.

But American Horowitz shanked his tee shot out of bounds, clearing the way for his Canadian rival to clinch victory and the biggest cheque of his career. Fukushima shot a final round one-over 71 to finish nine under for the week, with Horowitz slipping to third with an overall score of five under. Jordan Mitchell snuck in at the 18th to clinch second  and end six under.

Fukushima told the Bermuda Sun: “When he hit it out of the bounds I knew I just had to keep it on the golf course. 

“It was a relief to be honest but I knew it wasn’t done – I could have hit it out of bounds too and this golf course is very penal.

“I was happy I kept it in play but I still had a tough second shot of about 200 yards.”

Once on the green, though, the Canadian PGA Tour player, who had led by three with three to play, knew he was almost there.

“I had a putt of 4-and-a-half feet and I was thinking how many shots have I got to play with? I couldn’t think! Once I’d won it was just a feeling of relief — there’s some good players here and it’s a pro event of magnitude.”

He added: “I’ve been playing on Tour for a long while  and not played that well and it’s been tough on tour.

“But my game has been coming around for a while now and this is a good way to end the year.”

Bermudian Mark Phillips, back on the island after nine years in South Carolina, won the Open competition on eight over, with compatriot Jevon Roberts 10 shots back.

“I struck it well and I felt good out there,” Phillips, who works at Turtle Hill Golf Club, told the Sun.

“I was a little uptight on the last couple of holes but I kept it together.”