The 33-year-old Winther earned his maiden victory in his 129th start on the ET, carding rounds of 8-under 62 in the first and third rounds at Golf Santa Ponsa, sandwiching a 71 in tough conditions on Friday, and keeping his cool during a final-round 70 to finish at 15-under 265 and win by a shot over Spaniard Pep Angles and Jorge Campillo and Swede Sebastian Soderberg, who finished second for the second week in a row. Winther revealed Sunday that his 6-year-old daughter played an unexpected role in the victory after he and his wife accidentally locked themselves in the bathroom that morning. “There’s no lock on the door but the handle didn’t work,” he explained. “Our little girl Nora, 6 years old, had to go and find guys at reception to break down the door. We were in there for 45 minutes, I think. I thought, ‘Jeez not today, not Sunday, you’re leading the freaking event. Might not get there for your tee time.’ What a morning.” On the season, Winther has made 16 cuts in 22 starts with one other top 10 – a solo third place at the Gran Canaria Lopesan Open in April. He currently stands 37th in the Race to Dubai and is listed in the field for next week’s Portugal Masters, Nov. 4-7, at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course in Vilamoura. In four previous event appearances, Winther has missed the cut three times with a T-52 in 2017.
