Local golfer David Shacklady secured an emotional victory at the Moscow Country Club on Sunday, August 19 and dedicated his win to John O’Connor, a friend and former colleague at Ormskirk Golf Club who recently died.

Shacklady scored a final round 69, which gave him a two-shot triumph at the VTB Russian Open Golf Championship (Senior).

The Englishman, who is attached to Bickerstaffe's Mossock Hall golf club and lives in Lathom, finished on eight under par, with Welsh duo Stephen Dodd and Phillip Price in second place.

Shacklady had started the day two shots behind overnight leader Price, but took the outright lead after the front nine on Sunday after three birdies going out before navigating the back nine in level par.

Playing in his first year on the Staysure Tour, Shacklady, who had been an assistant at Ormskirk Golf Club for many years, was clearly emotional after securing his maiden title.

“It’s unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable,” he said. “It’s a bit of a blur at the moment. My aim was just to keep my card and now I’ve done that comfortably.

“It’s just unbelievable. I’ve been playing great. I played great in the last event at the London Golf Club. I spent some time with my coach Simon Edwards and it felt great there and I’ve brought it here.

“I just stayed patient and I hit it great, to be fair. I managed to hold them all off with a load of pars, which was lovely.”

The 51-year-old has three top 20 finishes to his name prior to this week’s event but he admits to feeling frustrated and putting himself under too much pressure in previous weeks.

“I’ve been frustrated that I’ve not really got to where I feel I can play, my level,” he said. “I’ve perhaps done a bit too much leaderboard watching, a bit too much pressure on myself and I feel like I’ve been playing catch-up at every event.

“To get up there and stay up there and finish it off against class players like this, it’s unbelievable. I don’t know when I’ll actually believe it to be honest.”

Shacklady, who played in the Open in 1998 at Royal Birkdale and 2007 at Carnoustie, admitted he’s having ‘the time of his life’ on the Staysure Tour.

“I’ve watched these guys on TV all my life so playing with them is just a dream to start with. To contend with them and now to win is unbelievable.

“They are proven players and have been for many years. Phillip has played in The Ryder Cup and Stephen has won many titles.

“There’s a lot of winners in the field and you know they’re not going to give you a title, you’ve got to earn it. I was nervous but I managed to keep my head and pars were good, thankfully.”