Open De Espana 2016: Final Leaderboard Scores, Prize Money Payouts

Not even a late charge from host Sergio Garcia could stop Andrew Johnston, who carded a one-under 70 in Sunday's final round to take the 2016 Open De Espana.

Opening the day in a bit of a hole after back-to-back rounds of 74, Johnston overcame a bogey on his first hole to play the rest of the day two under. He had three birdies against two bogeys to finish the tournament at one over. The 27-year-old London native finished one stroke ahead of Joost Luiten and two ahead of Garcia for his first European Tour victory.

Place	Player	Score	Prize Money
1	Andrew Johnston	+1	€333,330 ($376,062)
2	Joost Luiten	+2	€222,220 ($250,708)
3	Sergio Garcia	+3	€125,200 ($141,250)
T-4	Soren Kjeldsen	+4	€100,000 ($112,820)
T-4	James Morrison	+4	€100,000 ($112,820)

"I'm pretty speechless, so happy with the way I've played," Johnston told the European Tour website (h/t the Hendon and Finchley Times). "I drove the ball well all week, chipped and putted well all week, I struggled a bit with my irons the first three days but I just kept going and kept digging in and then on the fourth I found something."

As noted by Will Gray of Golf Channel, this is the first over-par score to win a European Tour event in nearly three years. Given the fact that this is a non-major event, it makes the high scores all the more surprising. 

"I can't wait to get back to North Mid (North Middlesex Golf Club), get hammered and see my mum and brother and see them and just celebrate," Johnston said, per the European Tour on Twitter.

Johnston's biggest challenges of the day were from Luiten and Garcia, who each faltered late. Luiten needed a birdie on one of his final two holes to force a playoff, but he went par-par. The 30-year-old Dutchman has been solid throughout the 2016 European schedule, earning five top 10s without a win. He was even par for the day, parring 12 of his last 13 holes.

Garcia, who entered the day seemingly out of contention after a four-over third round, carded the day's best score with a four-under 67. He played the front nine almost flawlessly with a three-under 32 and scored a birdie on the par-three 12th to put himself at four under.

A bogey on No. 15 proved to be a huge setback, as Garcia went birdie-birdie on Nos. 16 and 17 to get to five under. An unfortunate bogey on No. 18 wound up ensuring Garcia wouldn't win his own event.

Martin Kaymer congratulated Garcia on the tournament:

Overall, the event should be seen as a major test for European pros. The course was difficult to play on all week, even putting elite players like Garcia at their wits end.

Johnston's a bit unheralded on the national stage to be taking a tournament like this, but tournaments that play close to par tend to be unpredictable. When it takes low score after low score to stay atop the leaderboard, usually the truly elite separate themselves.

But when it's about surviving and advancing, sometimes all it takes is a steady hand. Johnston was buoyed by a first-round 67 and last-round 70, which allowed him to overcome a pair of difficult days in the middle. The result was a first career victory in Europe and, apparently, one big party back in North Middlesex.