A TITANIC tussle at the Bradford Open between Dan Thomas and Richard Wheatley ended with the former emerging victorious by just a single stroke.

It was a remarkable comeback from Shipley Golf Club's Thomas at his home course on Sunday, as he was five shots behind Bradford's Wheatley after the first 18 holes.

The battle went to the wire in the final round though. Thomas birdied two of the last three holes to give himself a chance of victory, but it was a bogey at the last from Wheatley which proved decisive.

The desperately unlucky Wheatley had shot a stunning opening round to put himself well ahead of the field. Nobody else could break 70 but he recorded an improbable 65, a course record.

The highlight was his stretch of four consecutive birdies on the back nine. Those came after an eagle on the fifth hole and the tournament looked to be over at the halfway stage.

Thomas was inconsistent on the par-71 course in his first round. Five fine birdies were virtually negated by four bogies, but he still sat second behind Wheatley at its conclusion.

A disastrous start put Wheatley on the back foot in the second round though. He was four-over at the turn, with a particularly costly double-bogey coming at the par-three seventh hole.

His lead was wiped out and it meant that Thomas held a one-shot advantage halfway through. He had gone two-under over the same stretch of holes, including consecutive birdies at four and five.

New leader Thomas began the back nine steadily with four pars in a row, but he bogeyed holes 14 and 15.

Wheatley bogeyed the former too, but a birdie on the latter gave him the lead again. The pair both shot three on the par-four 16th before Thomas drew level with a birdie on 17.

It all came down to the final hole, Thomas earned his par, but a dropped shot by Wheatley cost him the title that had looked in his grasp just hours earlier, as he finished with a 75.

Thomas' final round 69 saw him finish at three-under overall, and it was only the second sub-70 round of the tournament, alongside Wheatley's opening 65.

Other strong performers included Terry Brushwood of Bingley St Ives, who came third after two rounds of 72, and Cleckheaton's Oliver Tasker, fourth after scores of 71 and 73.

Northcliffe's Robert Malloy and Jordan Clements came 5th and 6th respectively, while Jack Lampkin, Nigel Colbeck, Andrew Busfield and Ben Rhodes completed the top 10.

Bradford Open results: 1 D Thomas (Shipley) 139 (70, 69), 2 R Wheatley (Bradford) 140 (65, 75) 3 T Brushwood (Bingley St Ives) 144 (72, 72) 4 O Tasker (Cleckheaton) 144 (71, 73) 5 R Malloy (Northcliffe) 146 (71, 75) 6 J Clements (Northcliffe) 146 (71, 75) 7 J Lampkin (Bracken Ghyll) 147 (76, 71) 8 N Colbeck (Cleckheaton) 147 (74, 73) 9 A Busfield (South Bradford) 147 (73, 74) 10 B Rhodes (Woodhall Hills) 148 (72, 76).