Kearney in Good Canary Finish

Four strong rounds by Dubliner Niall Kearney secured a share of eleventh place at the Fred Olsen Challenge de España in La Gomera, and the best finish in the four outings so far this season on the European Challenge Tour.

Lengthy trips to Nairobi and Barranquilla went unrewarded with missed cuts at The Barclay's Kenya Open and Pacific Rubiales Colombia Classic. Last month at the ALLIANZ Open Côtes d’Armor Bretagne it was a similar story. 

But in La Gomera Kearney carded rounds of 71-65-69-66 for an 11 under total.

Although it was Spaniard Eduardo de la Riva claimed a memorable home victory firing a flawless closing round 65 at Tecina Golf in La Gomera.

De la Riva finished one stroke clear of Englishman Simon Wakefield with a winning total of 19 under par to claim his maiden Challenge Tour victory at the €160,000 event, while the total of 265 (-19) is the lowest winning score so far this season.

Beginning the day three shots behind overnight leader, Argentina’s Daniel Vancsik, de la Riva got his final round off to the perfect start with a 40 foot putt for three at the first before capitalising on both of the front nine’s par fives with further birdies at the third and seventh, before reaching the turn in 32 shots thanks to a superb bunker shot at the ninth.

A further two birdies followed on the back nine at the par four 12th and long 17th to complete a blemish free final offering from the 29 year old, and he was understandably delighted.

He said: "I started very calmly and holed a 12 meters putt to get me in the game, then I chipped close on the third for birdie and after that I just let my game go because I knew there would be birdie chances on the way.

“I felt very comfortable out there, especially with my putter. I started playing with it last week where I had two bad rounds but was not the putter’s fault. This one is going to stay in my bag for a while. After so many years with belly and long putters now I feel I am a better player with the regular one.” 

De la Riva also spoke of overcoming a long-standing back injury and his ultimate aim of making it back onto the top tier of European golf.

“I’m not sure of my schedule now. I have been diagnosed with two disk protrusions in my back and I have to treat them, and then I will decide,” he said. “My goal has always been The European Tour. Since I got the card nine years ago I have grown up as a player, as a person and in every sense.

“Now everything is going perfect and I want to play. I made the right fitness preparation and it has worked. I have been close to a win on the main Tour a couple of times lately, I know I can trust on my game and trust myself, I just have to hole the putts the way I did today."

England’s Simon Wakefield narrowly missed out on victory on the Canary Island after following up a superb 63 in Saturday’s third round with a five under par 66 to fall one shot short of de la Riva.

"I made a slow start with a bogey where I made eagle yesterday so that was disappointing,” said Wakefield. “It was difficult to catch up so I settled down and let my experience not to rush and be patient and it came. I knew I needed to birdie the 18th to catch Eduardo but couldn’t. Overall I am very happy with the tournament."

Two shots further back were the trio of Scotland’s Scott Henry, Spain’s Luis Claverie and France’s Alexander Levy, while Englishman Charlie Ford had earlier shot a course record 61 – ten under par – a superb performance featuring 11 birdies and just the one bogey that propelled him 38 places up the leaderboard into a tie for sixth at 15 under par.

"That was my first course record in competition,” said Ford. “I felt really good. Yesterday I played very well from tee to green but terrible on the greens; today I tried to do the same but hole some putts and made all the short putts. I’m very happy."

Overnight leader Vancsik joined Ford in a share of sixth place after closing with a one over par 72.

Colm Moriarty finished on 6 under for share of 44th place.

The other Irish entry, Stephen Grant, missed the cut on this occasion.

Bridge Over Troubled Water for McIlroy

Rory McIlroy missed his third straight cut on Friday at the Memorial Tournament after a score of 79 in the second round left him at 6 over for the tournament and three shots shy of playing the weekend. 

Unlike Thursday, when the world No. 2 fought back after a quadruple bogey on his third hole of the day to shoot 71, the young Northern Irishman didn’t make a birdie all day.

"I got off to a decent start and had a couple opportunities there early for birdies and didn’t take them," McIlroy said. "I hit some good shots, it just seems like every time I go out there I make one or two big numbers and that sort of throws me, a couple doubles on the back nine. Just those big numbers at the beginning are killing me, and I just need to get those off the card and I’ll be okay."

The double bogeys came in a four-hole span on the back nine where he tangled with two of the creeks that meander through the lush Muirfield Village layout and all but sealed McIlroy’s fate. The first came at the par-5 11th where his second shot landed on the bank and he elected to hit it only to have the ball carom back into the way.

"I just wanted to chip it out in the middle of the fairway, and as soon as I hit it, it obviously just hit the bank in front of me and came back in the water," McIlroy said. "Probably a bit of bad judgment because I thought I could just chip it back out. But if I had have examined the line maybe a little bit closer, I might have just taken a drop straight away. But yeah, that wasn’t the cause of it."

McIlroy said he wasn’t sure whether he would spend the weekend hitting balls on Muirfield Village’s state-of-the-art practice facility or head to Memphis where he will play in the FedEx St. Jude Classic for just the second time in his career. A week ago he was on the range at Wentworth on Saturday morning after shooting a second-round 79 on the way to a missed cut at the BMW PGA Championship.

"I don’t feel like the scores are actually reflecting how I’m hitting the ball," McIlroy said. "I was able to string nine good holes together yesterday. I just need to keep working on it and try and string 18 good holes together and then try and string two days together and obviously three days and ultimately four.

"But I hit some good shots out there. I’m definitely hitting the ball better than I did last week, so I can see an improvement there. But I’ve still got a long way to go."

Luke Donald, who wrestled the No. 1 ranking from McIlroy once again last week, played with the Northern Irishman during the first two rounds at Muirfield Village. He felt like McIlroy handled himself welk.

"He’s obviously frustrated," Donald said. "This game does that to you. But you know, just having watched Rory the last few days, he’s not far away. He made a couple of careless errors and made some big numbers on a couple holes that was the difference this week. I’m sure once he posts that one good round, that one solid run of maybe a couple rounds or a tournament, this will be a blur and he’ll forget about it quickly."

Smyth In Benhavis Masters Mix

A three under par round on Friday secured Des Smyth a seven way share of 5th place at the Benhavis Senior Masters, as the first round got under way at La Quinta Golf and Country Club, dropping just the one shot on last green.

Philip Walton traded birdies and bogeys in equal measure on the opening day to finish  level par.

Denis O'Sullivan was one stroke further adrift after signing for a 72.

The field however was left in the slipstream of Mark Mouland who carded a record-equalling seven under par round of 64 to hold a  one shot lead overnight.

The Welshman, in his second full season on the European Senior Tour, is chasing his second title and a bogey free round gave him the perfect start as he finished the day a shot clear of the in-form Chris Williams.

Mouland began with back to back birdies before five successive birdies from the seventh hole left him seven under through 11 holes and he cruised home with seven pars to sign for a 64, which equalled the course record set by Boonchu Ruangkit on his way to victory at La Quinta two years ago.

“I putted really lovely,” said the two-time European Tour winner. “I had a couple of good chances at the 17th and 18th but I’d have taken seven under all day long. There was no panic at all and it could actually have been two or three better but it’s not an easy course, especially on the greens.

“I was trying to birdie every hole but the greens are tough to read. I've been playing well and played well in America last week so I'm not surprised with that round to be honest.”

Earlier in the day, Williams took the clubhouse lead after a six under par round of 65, courtesy of a birdie on the fourth hole, which was followed by a bogey, before a superb run of four successive birdies from the seventh hole preceded another gained shot on the 12th and an eagle on the par five 14th.

A bogey on the 17th hole left the South African in second place on six under as he searches for his second Senior Tour title in as many years.

“I started off quite slow and was level par after six holes,” said the 53 year old, who finished tied second at the season-opening Mallorca Open Senior two weeks ago before a tied 25th place finish at the US Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid. “I put the four birdies together then and I was giving myself plenty of opportunities so I could be aggressive with my putter, and I putted well too.

“There are a couple of tough holes out there but if you play nicely here you’ll go low and the putting will be the difference.

“It’s about momentum. Once you gain momentum you start to go with it and on the seventh I hit a great drive and chipped and putted and that drive started me off really.”

Delroy Cambridge was a shot further back alongside Anders Forsbrand after they carded respective five under par rounds of 66. Cambridge’s round, which he described as one of his best rounds in three years, included no less than seven birdies and, like Williams, he put his success down to his putting.

“I putted really well today,” said the Jamaican, “I missed two putts that I thought I should have made but otherwise I made everything. I didn’t hit the ball great, it was decent on the front nine and not so great on the back nine but I made some putts to save the round.

“That’s one of the best rounds I've had in the three years since my last win. In the last couple of years the putter has let me down and today I made more putts than I have in a long time so it feels good that I can do that.”

He was joined later in the day by Swede Forsbrand, whose six birdies and one bogey contributed to a positive start as he looks to improve on his 55th place finish in the 2011 Senior Tour Order of Merit.There were seven players three shots off the lead on four under par, including former Ryder Cup Captain Mark James, Tony Johnstone of Zimbabwe and Gary Wolstenholme, the winner of the season’s first tournament in Mallorca.

McGrane and Thornton Best in Wales

Damien McGrane and Simon Thornton led the Irish challenge at the ISPS Handa Wales Open at the end of Friday in tough conditions on the Ryder Cup Course at The Celtic Manor.

McGrane carved out level par round of 71 to move up the field with Thornton dropping two shots on the second day to moved the other way, signing for a 73. Not bad given that more than 20 players failed to break 80 in the opening round of the Wales Open and the scoring was such on Friday that the cut matched the US Masters at Augusta in April.

Despite that there two Irish casualties, Gareth Maybin with a score of  76, and Michael Hoey also carding a 76 after a double bogey added to his woes on the 14th.

However Peter Lawrie and Paul McGinley fared better finishing+ 3 on Friday and inside the cut.

Englishman Ross Fisher though was inspired by his previous Ryder Cup success at The Celtic Manor Resort and opened up a two shot lead on day two.

Fisher, who started the tournament with a solid 70 yesterday, recovered from a bogey on his opening hole - the par five 11th - by firing six birdies in a welcome return to form.

Since helping Europe to Ryder Cup glory at this venue in 2010, the Englishman has slipped out of the world’s top 150, but is now well placed to push for a fifth European Tour victory.

After completing a sizzling 66 that put him two clear of overnight leader Lee Slattery, Fisher said: “It's always nice to come back to good hunting ground, familiar turf. The Ryder Cup was a great experience, I played really well that week and enjoyed it.

“There are certain spots that you think, yeah, the pin was there in The Ryder Cup, or I hit it here and holed this putt, or hit that shot from here. You do try and remember those memories, and feed them into a positive outcome for this week.

“I have some fond memories and I've had some decent results here, but it's a course that I feel should suit me.”

Fisher revealed his Ryder Cup experience had helped him to birdie the par three third today.

He explained: “I hit a nice six iron below the hole to about 12 feet, 15 feet and made that. I actually felt like I was going to hole that because I think either I had that putt or Poults had that in The Ryder Cup, so I knew exactly where I was going to hit it. There was no way I was missing that one.”

Having failed to find his best form in recent times, Fisher is hoping he can build on an impressive performance so far this week.

“Unfortunately last year was disappointing and so far this year, nothing has really happened,” he acknowledged.

“So I need to try and turn that around and hopefully this will be the start of a big summer for me.”

Slattery endured a difficult start after resuming on four under, with bogeys at the third, sixth and eighth threatening to undermine his good work on day one.

An eagle at the 11th, together with birdies on the ninth and 13th, helped him to recover, however, and he picked up another shot at the last to post 71.

“I think the eagle on 11 was the turning point in the round,” Slattery admitted.

“The swing certainly didn't feel as good as yesterday. I hit a lot of shots left but just managed to bounce back well.”

Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti initially joined Slattery on four under following a sensational run of five birdies in six holes from the 18th.

He bogeyed his final hole, the tenth, but still signed for a 69 to share third with Chris Wood, who picked up four shots on the front nine en route to 67, and Thongchai Jaidee.

Dutchman Tim Sluiter was a shot further back and remained upbeat despite bogeying three of his last five holes.

“On this course, anything around par is a good score,” said Sluiter. “I’m very pleased where I am, and I kept myself in it.”

Scoring was much improved in the calmer and warmer conditions and the round of the day belonged to France’s Raphaël Jacquelin, who improved on his opening 76 by 11 shots to climb into a tie for eighth on one under.

Matteo Manassero, who matched Jacquelin’s day one score, also bounced back well with a 68, but the most remarkable fightback came from Graeme Storm.

Having gone round in 80 yesterday, which included a ten at the 18th, Storm put together a bogey free 67 to get just inside the cut mark at five over.

Edoardo Molinari and former US Open Champion Michael Campbell were a shot worse off and therefore missed the weekend.

Leaderboard

Reed Wins at Galgorm Castle

Paul Reed carded a two-under-par 70 in the Final Round of the Ulster Bank Open to claim the winner’s cheque at Galgorm Castle.

It was Reed’s second career 888poker.com PGA EuroPro Tour title after victory at Fota Island last year.

Reed (Bristol & Clifton Golf Club) began the final day one shot behind the lead after carding first and second rounds of 68 and 66 respectively.

He kicked off his final round with a birdie three at the first and gained another shot at the fourth. 

A third birdie came at the 10th but the Bristol golfer stuttered with a bogey at 17.

Overnight leader Scott Fallon (Lightning Packaging Supplies Ltd) started well with a par at the first and a birdie three at the second. But bogeys at five and 12 allowed those around him the opportunity to leapfrog the Londoner to top spot on the leaderboard and he finished tied eighth on -7 after signing for a Final Round score of 76.

James Hepworth (Ilkley Golf Club) was third at the start of the day and birdies at two, three and four set him up for a strong finish. He stuttered with a bogey five at the sixth but recovered with a birdie at the ninth. However, the 2010 Galgorm Castle winner slipped again with a bogey at 10 and fell further behind the leaders with a six on the par-four 11th. He concluded his round on par 72 to finish tied sixth on eight under par.

Elliot Saltman (Archerfield Links) carded 67 to finish tied second with George Woolgar on -11. The Scotsman carded seven birdies and two bogeys on Friday to record the best Final Round of the top-ten finishers after a strong finish with shots gained at 17 and 18.

Woolgar (Capitalservices/F Ball) also finished his round strongly with three birdies on the last four holes allowing him to sign for a 69.

It meant Reed needed to par the 18th to avoid sending the tournament to a play off and despite feeling the pressure in front of a strong Galgorm Castle crowd the Englishman managed to sink a short putt for victory.

“I was a bit of a nervous wreck on the last two holes,” he admitted. “But the first 16 holes were really good for me, it was probably the best I’ve hit the ball this year.

“I made a point of not looking at the leaderboards but I started asking people at the 16th hole and that’s when I started to become nervous and looking back I probably shouldn’t have asked to be honest!

“One I had knocked my ball to within two and a half feet I felt I would be able to get it in, though I still nearly missed it!

“I am incredibly happy to win at Galgorm Castle. It’s a great venue and always feels like a big event for us. There aren’t many multiple winners on the EuroPro Tour so I am very happy to be a two-time winner.”