The 34-year-old Englishman broke through for his first DP World Tour victory last year, carding a final-round, 7-under 65 in the 54-hole event, which was shortened due to pandemic travel restrictions. Armitage started the final day four shots off the lead, and he won by two strokes with an 8-under total, beating four players: Darius Van Driel, Matthew Southgate, Edoardo Molinari and Thomas Detry. “I’ve never lost so many balls in a practice round in my life,” he admitted following the win. “To (stand) here being Porsche European Open champion is pretty cool. I’m an emotional guy, I’m struggling to keep a lid on it here. … Twenty years ago, I lost my mum and I’ve dreamt about this since that day, being a winner, and you have days where you think it might not happen, but I just stuck at it.” On the season, Armitage has made nine cuts in 11 starts with two top 10s, finishing T-9 at the Ras al Khaimah Classic in February and T-5 at the Qatar Masters in March. Most recently, he was T-31 at the Dutch Open.