IRISH WOMEN'S STROKEPLAY:English teenager Emily Taylor chalked up one of the most significant successes of her fledgling career by winning the Irish Amateur Open Strokeplay Championship at the Island yesterday.
The 17-year-old who plays at Royal Lytham and St Annes – the home of the 2012 British Open – rolled in a 12-foot putt on the final hole to record a two over par 76 in her third and final round for a 54-hole total of 233.
That gave Taylor, fifth in the recent English Amateur championship a three-stroke victory over Cork’s Gillian O’Leary,the 36-hole leader and Mary Dowling of New Ross.
But Dowling actually took second place on account of her better final round total – 76 to 80.
Conditions on Saturday were extremely difficult with 35 miles per hour winds blowing across the course at Donabate – to such an extent that the competition scratch scores were 80 in the morning and 79 in the afternoon.
Irish international O’Leary kept her head and posted scores of 79 and 77 to establish a one-stroke overnight advantage but when the wind died down yesterday she was outgunned.
Taylor managed birdies on 8, 10 and 15 and finished with that solid putt to triumph quite comfortably.
Slieve Russell’s Lisa Maguire outshone her twin sister and defending champion Leona to finish fourth on 238. Leona finished seven strokes behind her well down the field in her last major competitive appearance before next month’s Curtis Cup match against the Americans.
LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR: Anne-Lise Caudal defeated Laura Davies in a nailbiting play-off to claim victory in the German Open in Munich Yesterday.
The Frenchwoman sank a birdie at the second extra hole of the sudden-death play-off to see off Davies after the pair had finished the final round on 13 under par after each carding 67s.
On the first extra hole at Golfpark Gut Hausern, both players made par to ramp up the tension, but on the second sudden-death hole Davies’s birdie putt from four metres fell just short, clearing the way for Caudal to make birdie and take her second Tour title.
Ireland’s Rebecca Codd failed to make it to the weekend after shooting a pair of 74s in the opening two rounds.
CHALLENGE TOUR:Colm Moriarty was left disappointed after the final day at the Telenet Trophy in Belgium as a level par final round of 71 meant he finished tied 51st at Ravenstein Royal Golf Club of Belgium, in Tervuren just outside Brussels.
The Athlone man carded birdies at the fourth and seventh holes to reach the turn in two under but dropped two shots on the back nine to finish on two over par for the tournament.
“I was playing nicely at the start and got to a couple under after nine but then I made a bogey on the 12th and another on the 17th,” said Moriarty.
“It was the same stuff again today, just not maximising my opportunities. I can’t seem to get it going at the moment. My game’s okay but I just can’t seem to get it going when I go a couple under par.
“The front nine was as good as I’ve played all week. It would have been nice to have a nice under par round but that’s the way it goes.”
Italian Marco Crespi, meanwhile, claimed his first Challenge Tour victory as he cruised to victory with a four under par round of 67 thanks to a run of four successive birdies on the back nine. Crespi was the overnight leader after the second and third rounds and, while he admitted to struggling with nerves on the penultimate day, he overcame them with aplomb finish three shots clear of Carlos Aguilar on 14 under.
