Former LIV golfer Laurie Canter claimed his first-ever DP World Tour title at the European Open in Germany on Sunday courtesy of a two-shot victory over Thriston Lawrence and Bernd Wiesberger at Green Eagle Golf Courses.
Canter has played 20 out of the 28 LIV Golf League events since its inception in 2022, teeing it up for Martin Kaymer's Cleeks GC in the first season before going on to fill in for various players since.
The Englishman was then a temporary 'wildcard' for the opening two events of 2024 but was later ultimately replaced by Anthony Kim after the American's much-anticipated professional comeback.
Yet, long after clearing his fines and serving the suspension handed out to him by the DP World Tour, the World No. 224 was able to continue his latest stint with the Wentworth-based circuit as he aims to make a return to the world's top-100.
Canter's form this season has been mixed, with a highlight of three top-10s on the DP World Tour supplementing results of 15th and 21st in his two LIV events at Mayakoba and Las Vegas.
The moment @LaurieCanter claimed his debut DP World Tour title after 142 appearances 👏🏴#EO2024 pic.twitter.com/ERVyUNDMf8June 2, 2024
The former World No. 81 has suffered several near misses in his career to date - more recently at the Mauritius Open (solo second) and the Australian Open (T4), both during December 2023. Prior to that, he had finished as runner-up at the 2020 Portugal Masters and 2020 Italian Open.
But just a week on from securing a top-10 finish at the Soudal Open, Canter finally took the step he had been so desperate to make in northern Germany, starting the week off with rounds of five-under and seven-under on the par 73 layout - one of the longest golf courses in the world - all with a brand-new set of irons in his bag.
He bounced back from an indifferent level-par Saturday and an overnight share of the lead to close out his maiden DP World Tour victory on 13-under via a one-under 71 on Sunday. It was his 142nd European Tour start.
Afterwards, an emotional Canter said: "It's all I've wanted to do since I turned pro, since before I was a pro, so it's hard to rationalize now but I'm really happy.
"I tried to just not get caught up in the tournament, I tried to keep it as factual as possible. It went my way today, and in the past, it hasn't. It's probably now that I've done it, I look back at when I didn't do it and think it wasn't so much what I was doing, it was other people doing stuff.
"I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. I know how to play golf. I just kept telling myself that... It's a great feeling, and it will probably take a while to totally digest what's happened."
"It's all I've wanted to do since I've turned pro"Hear from our new champion, Laurie Canter 🎙️#EO2024 pic.twitter.com/YgT1F8xQeVJune 2, 2024
Able to pull away from overnight co-leader Guido Migliozzi and three other back-nine challengers - which included another ex-LIV player in Wiesberger - Canter is now able to start planning the rest of his season, which is set to include more starts in high-ranking tournaments such as the Scottish Open.
The relief that greater job security, and removing the apparent stigma around his lack of success, was palpable to Canter - with the 34-year-old explaining: "Now that I've done it, it's going to open up some opportunities for me.
"If I'm going to try and climb the world rankings and get myself up and playing in the biggest tournaments in the world, you have to know how to win and I think you only get that belief once you do it. Hopefully, it means I can push on and go from strength to strength.
"It's quite difficult if you feel like you're serially not getting it done to have that almost stigma around you. I know in my own self that I could win. My realisation was to focus on what my close friends and family are thinking of me and be more immersed in that versus trying to win for someone on twitter. That's probably helped me."
