Zak Morgan stormed to victory in the fifth Open Series event of the year after a sublime 63 earned him a two-shot triumph at Cuddington.
Morgan had plenty of ground to make up after an opening 70 at the Banstead venue left him six strokes adrift of first-round leader Conor Coles, who carded nine birdies in his 64 that earned him a three-shot lead over the field after day one.
But Morgan got his second round off to the best possible start as he eagled both the par-five opening holes and, although he dropped a shot at the fourth, he got back on track with a birdie at the next to keep the pressure on Coles, who birdied the first and second before his challenge began to unravel with three bogeys in five holes.
Rochester & Cobham pro Morgan maintained his momentum after the turn, adding further birdies at the 10th, 12th and 15th before his fourth gain of the back-nine at the last wrapped up an inward 31 and a winning score of nine under par.
Coles limped in with a 71 to settle for a share of second place with Daniel Brown, who followed a 67 with a bogey-free 68, while former DP World Tour regular Matthew Cort, winner of two Open Series events this season, finished a further two strokes behind after rounds of 70 and 67.
Cort shared fourth place on five under par with James Sharp and Kevin O’Connell, with Silvermere left-hander Chris Gane, runner-up to Cort in the previous Open Series event at Bishop’s Stortford last month, earned another top-10 finish on three under.
Morgan’s first victory of 2023 banked him the £3,200 first prize, and there will be another £20,000 total prize fund on offer as the Open Series heads to Morley Hayes for the West Midlands edition on August 3-4, with Douglas hosting the Series finale in Ireland in early September.
