New Zealand’s Ben Campbell produced a stunning finish to win the US$2 million International Series Morocco last year when he made a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-five 18th to beat John Catlin in the first play-off hole. Story from the 2024 Yearbook.

At the Red Course at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, it looked like a done deal for American Catlin, winner of the International Series Macau presented by Wynn and the PIF Saudi Open earlier in the year, when he reached the par-four 17th hole on Sunday with a lead of three shots.

However, Campbell, who closed with a two-under-par 71, made a sensational eagle on the par-four 17th and a birdie on 18 in regulation play to tie Catlin (72) on 15-under-par, before making the all-important birdie in the first extra hole.

“That was a great finish,” said the 33-year-old from Queenstown, winner of the Hong Kong Open in 2023. “I didn’t have my best out there today and I just kept saying to Mike [his caddie], I’ve just got to find something and just stay patient. I told him if I can find a birdie eagle, you never know what can happen. So, I did that, and then to hole a putt like that in the play-off, it’s always good.”

Victory in Morocco was Ben Campbell’s second success on the Asian Tour. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.

American Caleb Surratt (71) and Spaniard Eugenio Chacarra (73) tied for third at 12-under par, three behind the top duo. Chacarra was the only one left in the hunt alongside Campbell and Catlin, but two bogeys coming in – on the 13th and 16th holes – threw a spanner in his works.

Catlin led wire-to-wire for 70 holes, opening up with a 64 on the par-73 course and following up with rounds of 71 and 68 before a seventh Asian Tour title was denied.

His only hiccup was a bogey-bogey start to his final round, but with Campbell also matching those numbers having started the day one behind, the leaderboard did not change. The Californian did not make any bogeys after that, but a par-par finish meant Campbell caught up with him in the end.

“You just have to tip the cap. I mean the guy goes two, four, four to finish. He probably made 130 feet of putts to win on the last three holes. All you can do is shake his hand and say well done,” said the 33-year-old Catlin.

“I played great. You know, I never, never gave in. I just kept battling. Kept chipping away. That birdie on the 15th gave me a decent little cushion there. I’m very pleased with the way I played.”

Before his bogeys on the first two holes on Sunday, Campbell had gone a remarkable 105 holes –five rounds and 15 holes – without a bogey on the Asian Tour, including his previous outing at the International Series Macau presented by Wynn, where he was bogey-free for his last two rounds.

Surratt, who played the 2024 LIV Golf season as part of Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII team and was the youngest player in League at 20, was playing in his first International Series event of the season and was delighted with his tied third place finish.

Before his bogeys on the first two holes on Sunday, Campbell had gone a remarkable 105 holes –five rounds and 15 holes – without a bogey. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.

The young American star started with a modest 72 to be tied 42nd, but improved with rounds of 69, 68 and 71 and earned his first Official World Golf Ranking points of the year.

Surratt said: “I didn’t know it was going to be as good as this at my first International Series event, so it was definitely way more than I expected. It was a really good week and definitely gave me something good to build off of going into LIV Golf Andalucia.”

Italy’s Stefano Mazzoli and the consistent Travis Smyth of Australia were tied fifth at 11-under.

An interesting sidelight of the tournament was the performance of Zimbabwean Scott Vincent, who finished tied 13th, but that included playing his opening round with rental clubs and a two-shot penalty incurred for arriving late for his tee time after a mad dash to Casablanca airport to find out if his clubs arrived.

Vincent’s par four on the first was turned into a six, but he fought back to finish with a 68 to be two behind Catlin and Kiwi Kazuma Kobori on Thursday.

“I misjudged the timing coming back (on Thursday). We made one wrong turn and that put me a few minutes behind,” said the 2022 International Series Rankings champion.

“My clubs had arrived at about 9.30 that morning, so I was there waiting for them. I could see with my Apple tags that they were in the airport, but I just couldn’t get to them in time. It was hard letting them go knowing that I was within 20 metres of them somewhere. But yeah, I had to leave them in order to try and make the tee time and maybe left a little too late.”