The English duo will battle it out in the final group on Sunday, both hoping to bridge sizeable gaps since their last respective European Tour victories.

It is almost four years to the day since Smith claimed his maiden title at the Porsche European Open. Horsey’s fourth and most recent win came at the 2015 Made in Denmark.

Galgorm has certainly been a happy hunting ground for Smith, who opened his week with an eight under 62 at the 2020 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open host venue. His bogey-free 65 on day three means he is 13 under par across his two rounds at Galgorm, with his 15 under total moving him one clear at the top.

Horsey has improved his score day-by-day, starting the week with a 67 at Galgorm, following that up with a 65 at Massereene Golf Club before a six under 64 on day three at Galgorm – which included his first bogey of the week at the sixth – moved him to outright second place on 14 under par.

The pair will face off in the final round of the men’s event at Galgorm alongside their playing partner, second round leader Daniel Hillier, who is the closest challenger on 11 under par. Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura and Darius Van Driel of the Netherlands are a shot further back on 10 under.

The women’s event is also set for a thrilling finale as three players share the lead heading into the final round at Galgorm. Pajaree Annanarukarn of Thailand was joined on 13 under by American duo Jennifer Kupcho and Emma Talley and they will tee it up together in the final group, all chasing their maiden LPGA Tour victories.

Day Three Scores

195 J SMITH (ENG) 62 68 65,
196 D HORSEY (ENG) 67 65 64,
199 D HILLIER (NZL) 67 62 70,
200 M KAWAMURA (JPN) 65 69 66, D VAN DRIEL (NED) 70 65 65,
201 V NORRMAN (SWE) 69 65 67, J HARDING (RSA) 70 64 67,
202 O FARR (WAL) 67 68 67, J CATLIN (USA) 69 66 67, A CA?IZARES (ESP) 66 68 68, D GAVINS (ENG) 71 65 66,
203 M SCHMITT (GER) 66 73 64, G PORTEOUS (ENG) 68 64 71, N ELVIRA (ESP) 66 67 70, B WINDRED (AUS) 69 70 64, D LAW (SCO) 67 69 67,
204 A LEVY (FRA) 69 69 66, R MCEVOY (ENG) 68 69 67, J KRUYSWIJK (RSA) 67 69 68, D WHITNELL (ENG) 67 69 68, P PETERSON (USA) 69 69 66,
205 M SCHMID (GER) 64 69 72, H LEON (CHI) 67 73 65, S TARRIO (ESP) 70 67 68, T MCKIBBIN 67 69 69, L BJERREGAARD (DEN) 69 68 68,
206 A CHESTERS (ENG) 68 70 68, R SCIOT-SIEGRIST (FRA) 69 70 67, D DRYSDALE (SCO) 64 70 72, D MCELROY 72 66 68, M ANTCLIFF (AUS) 68 70 68, F LAPORTA (ITA) 69 69 68, G BHULLAR (IND) 72 67 67, M ARMITAGE (ENG) 71 67 68, J WRISDALE (ENG) 69 67 70, C SYME (SCO) 72 66 68, E PEPPERELL (ENG) 66 67 73, J SENIOR (ENG) 68 66 72, A SADDIER (FRA) 69 66 71, B EVANS (ENG) 70 66 70, S SHARMA (IND) 70 69 67,
207 T MURRAY (ENG) 70 68 69, E DE LA RIVA (ESP) 67 72 68, S KIM (USA) 68 72 67, J SURI (USA) 73 67 67, B EASTON (RSA) 70 70 67,
208 M WARREN (SCO) 69 68 71, D COUPLAND (ENG) 71 69 68, G FDEZ-CASTA?O (ESP) 69 71 68, A SULLIVAN (ENG) 67 71 70, C PIGEM (ESP) 70 63 75, C HILL (SCO) 66 72 70,
209 N KEARNEY 69 71 69, D PAPADATOS (AUS) 69 68 72, P ANGLES (ESP) 71 67 71, R LUMSDEN (SCO) 69 70 70, W BESSELING (NED) 69 67 73,
210 J GONNET (FRA) 71 68 71, S THORNTON 70 68 72, T JAIDEE (THA) 67 70 73, A SANDHU (IND) 68 70 72, C SORDET (FRA) 73 67 70, B RITTHAMMER (GER) 71 69 70, B DREDGE (WAL) 68 71 71, J MORRISON (ENG) 67 67 76,
211 N H?JGAARD (DEN) 72 68 71,
212 B POKE (DEN) 68 72 72,
214 B HENSON (USA) 70 68 76

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The 25-year-old, a winner of the 2020 Omega Dubai Desert Classic, holds a one shot advantage over American Johannes Veerman. Scotland’s Grant Forrest is a single shot further back.

“It was a bit of a slow start, admitted Herbert. “Even sort of the first eight holes, I birdied 15, made a nice putt and then 17, hit it in there pretty tight for eagle and missed it. Even the first eight holes felt a little bit slow out there. (I was) only hitting the two-ball with Laurie. We just both felt like we are hitting it quite nice and couldn’t make any putts.

“I made a really long one on 18 for birdie and that kind of sparked things and got things going. Was able to play really nice that last nine holes. Felt like I was trying to get to 5- or 6-under and I didn’t really want to try and just attack really, really hard.”

Herbert, who achieved a 14^th place finish in last season’s Race to Dubai Rankings, carded an eight under par opening round at the sun-baked Kilkenny venue. Veerman in second achieved a bogey-free seven under 65 late in the day while Scot Grant Forrest signed for a six under par round of 66.

Ryder Cup starts high on the leaderboard

2012 European Ryder Cup players Martin Kaymer and Nicolas Colsaerts are next on the leaderboard, alongside fellow former Ryder Cup players Tommy Fleetwood, Thorbjørn Olesen and Andy Sullivan.They share fourth spot, on five under par, with a further nine players.

German Martin Kaymer was happy with his solid opening round, stating:

“I had a really solid start with five-under after ten holes and missed my tee shot on two. Still a bogey, which was fine. Then I struggled a little bit on the back nine, so the front nine of the golf course. Had a couple good chances coming in. Unfortunately missed a four-footer on the last for six-under would have been a really good score today. Five-under is fine, and I’m playing good golf.”

Colm Moriarty, a former Challenge Tour winner back in 2007, was the best of the Irish players on the opening day as he carded a four under par round. Reigning Open Champion Shane Lowry carded a two under par 70 and four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy opened his account with a 72.

Round One Scores:

64 L HERBERT (AUS),
65 J VEERMAN (USA),
66 G FORREST (SCO),
67 J SCRIVENER (AUS), C BEZUIDENHOUT (RSA), T FLEETWOOD (ENG), D WHITNELL (ENG), S GARCIA RODRIGUEZ (ESP), A JOHNSTON (ENG), R RAMSAY (SCO), M KAYMER (GER), T DETRY (BEL), A SULLIVAN (ENG), N COLSAERTS (BEL), T OLESEN (DEN), A ARNAUS (ESP), G HAVRET (FRA), S CROCKER (USA),
68 V NORRMAN (SWE), A COCKERILL (CAN), M ARMITAGE (ENG), M LEE (AUS), S BROWN (ENG), J GUERRIER (FRA), C PAISLEY (ENG), R ROCK (ENG), K SAMOOJA (FIN), C MORIARTY (IRL), K APHIBARNRAT (THA), S JAMIESON (SCO), M KINHULT (SWE), A LEVY (FRA), A ROZNER (FRA), M KAWAMURA (JPN), F ZANOTTI (PAR), F LAPORTA (ITA),
69 J CATLIN (USA), R BLAND (ENG), P LARRAZABAL (ESP), J WALTERS (RSA), E MOLINARI (ITA), J DONALDSON (WAL), K KITAYAMA (USA), Z LOMBARD (RSA), M ANTCLIFF (AUS), A RAI (ENG), J HARDING (RSA), J HANSEN (DEN), A OTAEGUI (ESP), J SMITH (ENG), W BESSELING (NED), R MCEVOY (ENG), M JORDAN (ENG), C SYME (SCO), M KORHONEN (FIN), T PULKKANEN (FIN).

Irish Scores

70 S LOWRY
71 N KEARNEY
72 R MCILROY, P DUNNE
73 R LESTER, M POWER (AM), C SHARVIN
74 G MCDOWELL
75 G MOYNIHAN
76 J CALDWELL, P HARRINGTON
77 S THORNTON
78 C RAFFERTY (AM), N O’BRIAIN
82 R DAWSON

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It was a fitting finish to the co-sanctioned European Tour and Ladies European Tour event as Englishwoman Hewson had an opportunity coming down the home stretch to force a play-off with her male counter-part Caldwell.

The 37-year-old Caldwell had set the clubhouse target at 17 under after equalling the best round of the week with an eight under 64 – also the best round of the final day – which was rounded off in style thanks to a remarkable second shot from the rough for a tap-in closing birdie.

For Caldwell, who partnered Rory McIlroy while representing Britain and Ireland at the 2007 Walker Cup as an amateur, it is a life-changing victory having struggled to make his mark on the professional game for 13 years and even working part-time in a golf store to fund his European Tour dreams.

He became just the eighth Ulsterman to win on the European Tour, rising to 43^rd in the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex in the process.

Speaking after his victory, the Bangor, Co. Down-born player said:

“My immediate feelings are probably a bit of disbelief if I’m to be honest, it’s been a dream of mine for quite a long time obviously. A lot of hard work goes into it so it hasn’t quite sunk in yet but hopefully more to come.

“In 2009 I played my first year, lost my card, played mini tours and Challenge Tour down the years, worked as well in a local golf store so it’s been a long road. But finally I’m here.

“I missed a short putt at 17 and didn’t know where I stood at that point and I said to my caddie let’s make birdie down the last. I hit a pretty poor tee shot and got away with a good lie and somehow managed to get it up to two feet and make the putt.

“It’s been a tremendous week, what they’ve don’t this week is fantastic. I hope we have more weeks like this, the golf course was tremendous, I played with some great girls this week. I got a fist pump from Annika when I came off the 18^th green which was pretty incredible – probably the greatest ever women’s golfer so that was pretty special.

“The golf club at home will probably be going bonkers so put a tab on guys and go bonkers. My parents have been with me the whole way so I’m looking forward to talking to them.”

A Special Week

The Irish golfer, who shots rounds of 70, 67, 70 and 64, added:

“Obviously to win is special enough but to be doing the winning presentation there on the 18^th green with Annika and Henrik – two absolute icons in the world of golf – is quite unbelievable to be honest.

“I’d made a lot of birdies this week so it was a matter of keeping the bogeys of the double-bogeys off the card or whatever it may be. I sort of tried to post a number in my mind. If I got it to 15 it would be a pretty good week but obviously I bettered that by two.

“I know if I play well enough I can contend. Those two weeks last year, seventh and fifth, were my two best previous results. I think in Italy I might have missed out by two or three shots and in a week’s golf that’s not a whole lot so I knew I could compete and give myself chances of winning on Sunday to win, it was just a matter of when are they going to come and can I take it.”

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Caldwell finished on 17 under par after carding an eagle and some impressive birdies. He beat Spain’s Adrian Otaegui by a single stroke to snatch the trophy in Sweden.

The battle went down to the wire when Otaegui had a final putt to win the competition but put the ball five feet past the hole and missed the next shot too.

That handed Caldwell his maiden Tour event win.

"The best shot of his life"

Jonathan Caldwell birdies 18 to set the clubhouse target at -17. #ScandinavianMixed pic.twitter.com/hl9G0XDIC6

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) June 13, 2021

The 37-year-old from Bangor in Down has partnered Rory McIlroy in the 2007 Walker Cup.

After the win, Caldwell told Sky Sports: “It’s been a dream of mine for a long time. A lot of hard work goes into it. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet, but hopefully more to come.

“In 2009, I played my first year, lost my card, played mini tours and Challenge Tours over the years; worked as well in a local golf store. It’s been a long road but finally I’m here.

“The golf club at home will probably be going bonkers so just put a tab on and crack on boys and enjoy.”

He will take home €166,000 and a two-year extension on the tour for winning the competition.

England’s Alice Hewson narrowly finished third which is the first event on the European Tour history to feature men and women competing on the same course for one prize fund and one trophy.

Alice's thoughts on her memorable week #ScandinavianMixed pic.twitter.com/K7ZrAcwHKG

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) June 13, 2021

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The English veteran overcame young Italian Guido Migliozzi in a play-off to win the Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willett.

In a dramatic final day at The Belfry, Bland showed incredible bravery twice over to clinch the victory. At the 72^nd hole he holed a monster birdie putt to finish 13 under after a six under 66.

Migliozzi had forced a play-off thanks to a four under 68. Bland once again showed his mettle. Having found a tricky lie from his drive in the first play-off hole, the 48-year-old pulled off a stunning five wood approach to leave a makeable two-putt.

Migliozzi, 50 yards further forward on the fairway from his own drive, proceeded to push his second shot to the right of the green. Bland rolled his birdie deftly to within three feet. His Italian counterpart raced his own birdie putt past the hole on the middle tier of the iconic green.

When Migliozzi missed his par putt, Bland knocked in for his four and for a career-defining triumph after numerous near-missed down the years. He moved to 14th in the Race to Dubai Rankings as a result.

The victory puts him in pole position for a chance to earn a place in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in June. The top ten aggregate Race to Dubai points earners (not otherwise exempt) at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willet, Made in HimmerLand presented by FREJA and Porsche European Open will earn a place in the third Major Championship of the year.

“That’s what we all work for”

“It’s probably going to take a few days to sink in,” admitted Bland. “It’s what I’ve worked for for 20 years. That’s what we all work for, to win out here and try and prove yourself. I’ve had a few close calls and I assume someone up there was looking down on me quite favourably”

“I kept telling myself on the last I thought 13 under would be a really good score” Bland continued. “There was maybe two or three guys on 11. Especially if the weather stayed how it was. We played the last three holes in the worst of the weather as well. I thought if it stays like this then the par fives are playing pretty long. They’re not giveaway birdies. To hole that putt on the last, I don’t think I saw it go in. I knew it was in with about a foot to go. I think I turned to the left to celebrate before it had even gone in. I’d have looked silly if it’d missed. Fortunately it went in” said the relieved European Tour winner.

“Finally I can go off that list of most starts without a win. A big incentive for me was that I wanted to get to 500 events, this will allow me to do that, which I’ll be hugely proud of. To play 500 events out here is a pretty good career.”

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Running from January to November, the European Tour schedule features 18 returning tournaments that were either postponed or cancelled in 2020 due to Covid-19.

The Rolex Series

The 2021 season’s Rolex Series will features the European Tour’s four premium events spread across key points in the global golfing calendar, each one enhanced by a prize fund increase and elevated Race to Dubai points.

The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship (January 21-24), the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open (July 8-11) and the BMW PGA Championship (September 9-12) will each now have a prize fund of US$8million – an increase of $1million. They will also all have 8,000 Race to Dubai points available, the same as on offer at the four World Golf Championship events.

The prize fund for the fourth and final Rolex Series event of the season – the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai – also increases by US$1million to US$9million. The European Tour season-ending finale will also continue to feature the largest winner’s cheque in the world of golf – US$3million – with, additionally, 12,000 Race to Dubai points available, some 2,000 points above those on offer at the four Major Championships.

Prize fund increases

Prize funds for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open and the Italian Open will each rise to €3million, from €1.25million and €1million respectively.

The European Tour has also confirmed that prize funds for all four UK Swing events in July and August will be increased. Prize funds for the new tournaments in Tenerife and Gran Canaria in April will each be €1.5million; the Portugal Masters, which follows these two events, will also increase to €1.5million; prize fund for the Betfred British Masters will rise to €2million from €1.25million.

Along with the traditional group of tournaments in the Middle East at the start of the year, the schedule also includes the return of the Iberian Swing in April and the UK Swing in July and August, which follows on from the run of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open and The Open Championship. Also next to each other on the schedule are the Open de España and the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters in Spain in the first two weeks of October followed by the Trophée Hassan II in Morocco the following week.

Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the European Tour, said: “I am incredibly proud to announce our 2021 global schedule, one that once again sees us journey through continents and across the world.”

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Ardglass-native Cormac Sharvin, who was the leading Irishman at last year’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Lahinch, Co. Clare, is delighted to be back playing in Ireland.

“It’s an opportunity to play on home turf” admitted Sharvin, “I haven’t played great in the last while. I had a good week off last week, reflecting and trying to get back to things that worked for me last year. I’m trying to get back into that trying to tidy up my swing. My game is in the best place it has been all year coming into this week, whether I play well or not is a different story. I feel like I’m moving in the right direction with my game, hopefully I can put four good rounds together this week.”

Discussing the Galgorm course, the Ulsterman, who was 19^th at The English Championship in early August, said:

“I know this course really well. I’ve played a lot of golf here. It’s a good test, the rough is thick. My game is pretty suited to a course like this, you have to drive it well. Tee to green it’s a good test so it should set up pretty well.”

The twenty-eight-year-old has struggled with the bubble professional golfers have found themselves in recent weeks, since the re-starting of competition:

“From the outset I was saying I wasn’t struggling and that I didn’t mind it. But on reflection it’s something I have struggled with. I find it hard separating my golf from chilling at the hotel. I feel like I’ve been uneasy with the whole thing, but I’ve done work on it to try and reframe it and get myself in a good place going into weeks rather than feeling like I’m pushing. It felt like I was rushing my weeks and wasn’t relaxed – I couldn’t wait to get out the bubble. I’m going to have to adapt and get better at dealing with it. I met with my team last week and we’re reframing it in a way that is beneficial to me.”

Reflecting on the usual experience of having to play without crowds at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, Sharvin says:

“It’s a good chance to do well this week. The big challenge is going to be playing without crowds. I’ve played here a lot, even at Challenge Tour events we get good crowds and I seem to get a decent following – I’ve fed off that. It’s something I’ll have to look at this week and I’ll have to gee myself up.”

Greystones golfer Paul Dunne fully agrees with Cormac Sharvin about the strange feeling surrounding this year’s competition:

“It feels a bit weird, it almost doesn’t feel like we’re at home. The Irish fans are usually so loud and they come out in big numbers. It’s different, but it’s nice to be driving my own car, staying relatively close to home, home comforts. Hopefully I can perform.

The Irishman feels he’s adapting well to the ‘new normal’ on the European Tour, stating:

“I’m adapting OK, it is what it is. The weeks are a little bit more mundane than they usually are, you can’t get out and about and do things and your dinner companions are the same every night. Look, it beats sitting at home being locked down, it’s a much better alternative.”

The twenty-seven-year-old spoke about the challenge of the Galgorm, Co. Antrim course, offering:

“The course is all about your tee shots, it’s pretty narrow off the tee. It doesn’t give you much respite. It’s all about keeping it – you would say between the tree line – but there’s decent room between the tree line, but the fairways are fairly narrow and the rough between the fairway and the trees is extremely thick. Especially when it’s wet, you can’t get much out of it at all.”

With the Dublin-born player experiencing problems with a hand injury of later, he states his current goals are “just to get back fit and get my game back in a shape where I feel like I can move forward.  I don’t have any short term goals because I don’t know what the future holds.”

Back on home soil this week should give Dunne an opportunity to fully access where his game is right now, and he is “just ready to go out and play and be able to practice as free as I can.”

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The Frenchman started the final day at The Celtic Manor Resort in a share of sixth, five shots behind 54-hole co-leaders Sebastian Soderberg and Connor Syme, but the deficit was cut to just one stroke after his second birdie of the day on the sixth hole.

The 2015 Amateur Champion remained just one shot back after another gain on the ninth, but drew level with a fourth birdie of the day on the par five 11th hole. Successive birdies at the 15th and 16th holes saw the 25-year-old sign for a bogey-free 65 and an eight under par total as a nervous wait followed.

Bogeys on the 14th and 16th holes dashed Syme’s hopes of a maiden European Tour victory and both he and Soderberg found the water at the par five 18th, which ultimately ended the Swede’s chances at the eleventh hour.

“As I said on the course I was playing really good since the start of the week,” conceded Langasque, “I was only focusing on doing my thing – that was the only objective I had on Monday with my coach. I’m so happy with the way I played the back nine, I played really, really good, I had so many birdie opportunities. The second shot on 16 and the first shot on 17 were my two best shots of the week. That shows that the work we have done the past few weeks has worked, and I’m pretty happy.”

The French golfer’s win elevated him to 31st in the 2020 Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex, and also earned him a place in next month’s U.S. Open after he moved inside the top ten on the UK Swing Order of Merit.

It was a disappointing tournament for the Irish golfers who finished towards the rear of the field. Cormac Sharvin was best, as he finished on 289, which was 13 shots off the winner. Paul Dunne was a further three shots behind Sharvin, while Jonathan Caldwell carded a final day 76, to end the tournament on 293.

Final Scores:

276 R LANGASQUE (FRA) 71 68 72 65,
278 S VALIMAKI (FIN) 70 72 67 69,
279 D DIXON (ENG) 70 70 71 68, M JORDAN (ENG) 69 72 72 66,
280 S SODERBERG (SWE) 68 70 68 74, J MORRISON (ENG) 73 72 66 69, L CANTER (ENG) 71 69 72 68,
281 C SYME (SCO) 66 70 70 75, J CAMPILLO (ESP) 75 68 69 69, G GREEN (MAS) 73 71 68 69, C HILL (SCO) 73 71 68 69, J SCRIVENER (AUS) 70 74 69 68, H LI (CHN) 72 66 76 67, C SHINKWIN (ENG) 68 75 71 67,
282 T PIETERS (BEL) 69 72 69 72, M KINHULT (SWE) 69 71 72 70, R FOX (NZL) 70 74 68 70, L JOHNSTON (SCO) 70 68 75 69, S HEISELE (GER) 70 71 73 68, L DE JAGER (RSA) 70 74 70 68,
283 D BURMESTER (RSA) 72 71 68 72, C HOWIE (SCO) 74 69 69 71, M FENASSE (FRA) 72 70 72 69, B RITTHAMMER (GER) 75 70 69 69, C SORDET (FRA) 72 74 68 69, D HUIZING (NED) 70 73 72 68,
284 E MOLINARI (ITA) 72 70 68 74, M SIEM (GER) 70 74 67 73, B STONE (RSA) 70 72 70 72, S GARCIA RODRIGUEZ (ESP) 73 70 69 72, J SMITH (ENG) 66 72 75 71, M ARMITAGE (ENG) 74 69 71 70, R PARATORE (ITA) 69 72 74 69, C PAISLEY (ENG) 72 74 69 69, D WHITNELL (ENG) 73 71 72 68, L SCALISE (ITA) 72 71 74 67,
285 R ROCK (ENG) 71 69 73 72, A JOHNSTON (ENG) 73 71 70 71, A OTAEGUI (ESP) 71 70 74 70, D LAW (SCO) 71 75 69 70, S CROCKER (USA) 74 71 71 69, M KAWAMURA (JPN) 74 70 73 68, L VAN MEIJEL (NED) 72 74 71 68,
286 N ELVIRA (ESP) 71 67 74 74, J HARDING (RSA) 70 70 73 73, M KIEFFER (GER) 71 73 70 72, R RAMSAY (SCO) 73 72 70 71, D VAN DRIEL (NED) 75 71 69 71, A RAI (ENG) 70 71 75 70, A SADDIER (FRA) 71 71 75 69, J MCLEOD (AUS) 73 71 73 69, S HORSFIELD (ENG) 73 71 77 65,
287 Z LOMBARD (RSA) 77 69 68 73, O LENGDEN (SWE) 72 71 72 72, D PERRIER (FRA) 71 75 69 72, N COLSAERTS (BEL) 71 72 73 71, A COCKERILL (CAN) 73 71 72 71, W BESSELING (NED) 73 71 73 70,
288 D YOUNG (SCO) 73 72 70 73, K KITAYAMA (USA) 68 74 76 70, R MACINTYRE (SCO) 68 78 72 70, M BALDWIN (ENG) 74 72 73 69,
289 C SHARVIN (NIR) 73 71 69 76, J SENIOR (ENG) 73 71 71 74, R MCEVOY (ENG) 71 74 72 72, S TILEY (ENG) 71 73 74 71, S KIM (USA) 71 67 82 69,
290 A CHESTERS (ENG) 69 72 76 73, A MERONK (POL) 73 69 76 72, S VINCENT (ZIM) 75 71 73 71, L SLATTERY (ENG) 78 66 79 67,
291 N LEMKE (SWE) 73 72 70 76,
292 A KARLSSON (SWE) 77 69 70 76, P DUNNE (IRL) 74 72 73 73, M SOUTHGATE (ENG) 69 73 80 70,
293 O FISHER (ENG) 71 73 71 78, J CALDWELL (NIR) 72 74 71 76.

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The 23-year-old started the final one shot behind Scotland’s Connor Syme, but shared the lead after the first hole as the young leader dropped a shot. The English golfer made consecutive birdies on the third and fourth holes and then birdied the seventh before a two-hour delay caused by the threat of lightning at Celtic Manor Resort in Wales which played like a pool table with the greens playing just perfect.

After the restart, he parred the next six holes before his fourth birdie of the day on 14^th, and he parred his way home to sign for a bogey-free 67 and an 18 under par total.

Commenting on his second win in three weeks, Horsfield admitted:

“It was pretty crazy. My goal this weekend was to have no bogeys and I was able to do that. I made a huge putt on 17 to keep that alive and I just played solid all week, really. To have a nice cushion coming into the last was nice.”

Similarly to the Hero Open at Forest of Arden, Belgium’s Thomas Detry finished as runner-up to Horsfield after also posting a four under par, bogey-free round.

The Belgian was satisfied with his performance after a long layoff from the sport, stating:

“We did an okay job this week. It’s nice to start after five months off with a top ten. We had a bit of a slip up yesterday but still, happy overall. My caddie said if I go two under through the last four then he’ll buy me dinner tonight, so I get free dinner.”

Sharing third place were 2016 Ryder Cup player Thomas Pieters, making his first start since the resumption of the 2020 Race to Dubai, Andrew Johnston of England and Syme, who stated, “My goal is to get in that top ten for the U.S. Open.”

Horsfield moves to the top of the UK Swing Order of Merit and has secured a place at the U.S. Open. He will be joined by the other top ten players on the UK Swing Rankings at Winged Foot at the conclusion of next week’s ISPS Handa Wales Open.

The Englishman is also guaranteed a share of £250,000 as part of the European Tour’s Good for Golf initiative. The top ten on the rankings after the ISPS Handa UK Championship at The Belfry will share the money to donate to charities of their choice.

Cormac Sharvin beat his fellow Ulsterman to be leading Irish golfer in the Celtic Classic. The Ardglass golfer carded a final round of 73, which Jonathan Caldwell bettered by one stroke, but Sharvin completed the tournament on a four-round total of 276 to Caldwell’s 278.

Select Final Scores

266 S HORSFIELD (ENG) 67 64 68 67,
268 T DETRY (BEL) 67 66 68 67,
269 C SYME (SCO) 68 67 63 71, A JOHNSTON (ENG) 67 66 68 68, T PIETERS (BEL) 64 68 70 67,
270 A MERONK (POL) 66 71 64 69, D HORSEY (ENG) 68 71 65 66, S VILIMIKI (FIN) 71 68 65 66, J CATLIN (USA) 68 68 69 65,
271 S SODERBERG (SWE) 66 69 65 71,
272 C SHINKWIN (ENG) 68 65 69 70, W BESSELING (NED) 67 69 67 69, G GREEN (MAS) 70 69 70 63,
273 J MCLEOD (AUS) 65 69 69 70, J SCRIVENER (AUS) 69 69 65 70, A OTAEGUI (ESP) 69 67 69 68, M KIEFFER (GER) 69 70 66 68, L GAGLI (ITA) 67 70 69 67, A COCKERILL (CAN) 70 69 67 67, S HEISELE (GER) 69 70 69 65, J KRUYSWIJK (RSA) 70 71 67 65,
274 S VINCENT (ZIM) 69 69 66 70, J SENIOR (ENG) 69 70 66 69, S CROCKER (USA) 68 66 73 67, J SMITH (ENG) 68 68 71 67, W NIENABER (RSA) 70 67 71 66,
275 M SOUTHGATE (ENG) 67 70 67 71, J MORRISON (ENG) 67 70 68 70, A BJORK (SWE) 71 70 66 68, R FISHER (ENG) 72 68 68 67,
276 C SHARVIN (NIR) 71 67 65 73, R ENOCH (WAL) 69 66 69 72, A RAI (ENG) 67 70 70 69, S BROWN (ENG) 67 72 68 69, D WHITNELL (ENG) 72 67 69 68, M ANTCLIFF (AUS) 68 71 70 67, J DONALDSON (WAL) 70 70 70 66, R KARLBERG (SWE) 73 68 69 66,
277 M WARREN (SCO) 66 72 65 74, N ELVIRA (ESP) 66 69 72 70, C HILL (SCO) 70 68 70 69, J WALTERS (RSA) 70 69 69 69, S HEND (AUS) 75 65 68 69, T TREE (ENG) 65 75 69 68, A CHESTERS (ENG) 72 68 69 68, O FARR (WAL) 73 67 69 68
278 S KIM (USA) 66 70 68 74, J CALDWELL (NIR) 68 66 72 72, A ARNAUS (ESP) 73 68 65 72, A SULLIVAN (ENG) 70 71 66 71, M JORDAN (ENG) 68 66 74 70, E MOLINARI (ITA) 66 72 70 70, O LENGDEN (SWE) 69 69 70 70, J HARDING (RSA) 69 71 68 70, M SIMONSEN (DEN) 68 71 70 69, D BURMESTER (RSA) 71 68 71 68,
280 J SJOHOLM (SWE) 68 70 69 73, G MIGLIOZZI (ITA) 66 70 72 72, F LAPORTA (ITA) 69 69 70 72, R FOX (NZL) 69 71 68 72, D PERRIER (FRA) 70 69 71 70,
281 S KJELDSEN (DEN) 70 70 68 73,
282 L DE JAGER (RSA) 71 68 69 74, N COLSAERTS (BEL) 67 73 70 72, S SHARMA (IND) 71 70 70 71,
283 T OLESEN (DEN) 71 70 69 73, J SURI (USA) 72 69 72 70, B RITTHAMMER (GER) 71 70 76 66,
284 G FORREST (SCO) 72 68 72 72,
285 R MCGOWAN (ENG) 70 70 71 74, P LARRAZ?BAL (ESP) 70 71 70 74,
287 M LEE (AUS) 69 71 71 76,
288 B STOW (ENG) 68 72 73 75,
289 C PIGEM (ESP) 70 71 74 74

The post Sam Horsfield wins second title in three weeks appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.

Scotsman Syme started Saturday’s third round four strokes behind halfway leader Sam Horsfield from England, but quickly made a move with three birdies on the front nine. The 25-year-old carded five birdies on the back nine as he went on to sign for a 15 under par total, one stroke ahead of Horsfield.

“I just played lovely, to be honest,” admitted the Scot, “It’s obviously very nice conditions and I got off to a decent start. I maybe didn’t play the front nine as well as I’d like but I managed to get to three under through nine, which was great. I holed the putts that I had opportunities on so it was a nice base to build on. It was nice throughout, really.”

Recent Hero Open winner Horsfield, who is seeking s second title since the European Tour season resumed, parred the first eight holes before his first birdie of the day on the ninth. Two gains followed on the 14th and 16th holes as, like Syme, he returned a blemish-free card.

“I felt like I was actually playing really well” said Horsfield, “I hit a lot of greens and as I said walking up nine, I was just waiting for my putter to get hot. I made a few nice putts, didn’t take advantage of the easy holes on the back nine but I’m happy with the position I’m in.”

Sebastian Soderberg from Sweded carded a bogey-free six under par 65 to move up to third place on 13 under par, one stroke ahead of Thomas Detry of Belgium, England’s Andrew Johnston and Adrian Meronk of Poland.

2016 Ryder Cup player Thomas Pieters of Belgium and England’s Callum Shinkwin share seventh on 11 under.

Ardglass golfer Cormac Sharvin signed for a 65, his best round of the tournament so far, leaving him on a three-round total of 203, five shots behind the Scottish leader. Jonathan Caldwell, on the other hand, carded his worst round of the week with a 72, which sees him three strokes behind his fellow Ulsterman.

Select Round Three Scores

198 C SYME (SCO) 68 67 63,
199 S HORSFIELD (ENG) 67 64 68,
200 S SODERBERG (SWE) 66 69 65,
201 T DETRY (BEL) 67 66 68, A JOHNSTON (ENG) 67 66 68, A MERONK (POL) 66 71 64,
202 T PIETERS (BEL) 64 68 70, C SHINKWIN (ENG) 68 65 69,
203 J MCLEOD (AUS) 65 69 69, W BESSELING (NED) 67 69 67, M WARREN (SCO) 66 72 65, J SCRIVENER (AUS) 69 69 65, C SHARVIN (NIR) 71 67 65,
204 R ENOCH (WAL) 69 66 69, S KIM (USA) 66 70 68, M SOUTHGATE (ENG) 67 70 67, S VINCENT (ZIM) 69 69 66, D HORSEY (ENG) 68 71 65, S VILIMIKI (FIN) 71 68 65,
205 J CATLIN (USA) 68 68 69, A OTAEGUI (ESP) 69 67 69, J MORRISON (ENG) 67 70 68, M KIEFFER (GER) 69 70 66, J SENIOR (ENG) 69 70 66,
206 J CALDWELL (NIR) 68 66 72, L GAGLI (ITA) 67 70 69, A COCKERILL (CAN) 70 69 67, A ARNAUS (ESP) 73 68 65.

The post Cormac Sharvin 5 shots off new leader Connor Syme appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.