Colm Moriarty of Team Ireland carded two birdies on the last four holes but proved insufficient at the Apulia San Domenico Grand Final in Italy as the Athlone man carded three consecutive bogeys - on holes 12, 13 and 14 – to finish on level par on Saturday.
Matt Haines of England captured his debut Challenge Tour title on a dramatic day which saw Spaniard Alvaro Velasco succeed Italian Edoardo Molinari as the winner of the Rankings.
Haines, who only turned professional last year and has relied largely on sponsors’ invitations to compete on the Challenge Tour this season, closed with a round of 66 to edge out overnight leader Daniel Gaunt of Australia by a single stroke and secure second place in the Rankings behind Velasco.
Other players with cause for celebration were home hero Lorenzo Gagli and Scot Raymond Russell, who with respective finishing positions of joint third and tied 12th pushed their way into the all-important top 20 at the expense of Spain’s Carlos Del Moral and England’s Charlie Ford.
Despite opening with a round of 67, Del Moral was ultimately unable to maintain his momentum and composure over the following three days, as his four over par aggregate total saw him drop down to 21st place in the Rankings – an agonising €558 behind Frenchman Alexandre Kaleka in 20th place.
Gaunt climbs to seventh in the Rankings despite having only played 11 events and held the lead for large parts of the afternoon at San Domenico Golf in Puglia, Italy. But a mixture of adrenaline and nerves forced the man from Melbourne into a few errors.
But Gaunt is confident of following the likes of Molinari, Welshman Rhys Davies and the English duo of James Morrison and John Parry in entering the winners’ enclosure on The European Tour the season after graduating from the Challenge Tour.
The Australian only secured his promotion from the Satellite EuroPro Tour to the Challenge Tour half way through the season courtesy of his victory at the English Challenge, since when he has finished in the top ten in exactly half of the tournaments in which he has played.
Gaunt was naturally disappointed to have bogeyed the 18th hole for the second day in succession to miss out by one shot, but was excited at the prospect of returning to the top tier after five years in the golfing wilderness.
He said: “I’m pretty devastated to be honest – I had the perfect yardage for my approach to the 18th, but just pulled it and left myself no chance of getting up and down from the bunker. I had the shot in mind I was trying to hit – I felt comfortable over the shot, but just didn’t execute it. But give credit to Matt, he’s obviously played very well this week, and I don’t think my disappointment will last too long. The goal at the start of the week was to climb into the top ten of the Rankings, and I’ve comfortably achieved that. So whilst I’m obviously disappointed I wasn’t able to see the job through, I’m also excited at the thought of getting back onto the main Tour. I definitely feel my game’s good enough to win out there, but talk’s cheap – I’ve now got to go out there and prove it.”
Velasco has also targeted a maiden European Tour victory after topping the Rankings with earnings of €134,296.
By his own admission the Spaniard’s performance levels this week fell short of the standards he had set this season, as he finished in a tie for 20th place on one over par; but the 29 year old has set the lofty ambition of following Molinari into the top 50 of the Official Golf World Ranking.
Velasco will be joined on The European Tour by Gagli, whose prospects of securing the top three finish ne needed appeared extremely remote after turning in one over par for the tournament. But the Italian delighted the home crowds with three birdies and an eagle on the way home to surge through the field and into a share of third place on four under par alongside England’s Lee Slattery, who signed for a round of 69 to secure a return to The European Tour as the 13th graduate.
Moriarty finished in 31st place - following his 7 over par total - and now faces a return, in early December, to the PGA Catalunya for the Final Stage of European Tour Qualifying School.
Last year Moriarty finished 119th at the Final Stage following rounds of 65, 77, 68, 76 – and at two over par he was twelve shots beyond the cut - which saw Gary Murphy and Simon Thornton as the only Irish qualifiers for the 2010 season.
This year both Murphy and Thornton will join Colm Moriarty on his tenth outing at Q School - where he has competed every year since 2001- with all three seeking to gain full playing rights on the European Tour for 2011.
