Conor Purcell entered the final round of the Italian Challenge intent on tracking down leader John Parry and claiming his second Challenge Tour victory, but ultimately had to settle for solo fifth place.
The Portmarnock man went low on days two and three to occupy solo second position after 54 holes, but knew that the soft conditions meant another low round was required to overhaul the two-stroke deficit he started the day with and to hold off the chasing pack. And it couldn’t have started much better as he carded birdies on the par-4 opener and par-5 second hole which saw him halve the deficit.
That was as close as he came, however, and a bogey on the third and another on nine, coupled with Parry adding two more birdies on the front side, left Purcell trailing by five at the turn.
He birdied the par-5 12th and 15th holes, but gave another shot back on the par-4 13th and rounded out with four straight pars to finish on -14 overall. Despite the obvious disappointment of not giving himself a realistic chance coming down the stretch, his solo fifth place sees him climb back into the top 10 in the Road to Mallorca rankings and bolsters his chances of graduating to the DP World Tour for 2025.
Gary Hurley had put himself in position to challenge after 36 holes, but back-to-back two-over 73s made for a disappointing weekend and he finished in a tie for 48th at -2, one ahead of Ronan Mullarney who also let valuable ranking points slip with two bogeys and a double bogey in hid final four holes. Meanwhile, Conor O’Rourke closed out with a level-par 71 to remain at even for the week and finish in a tie for 59th.
But the day belonged to Parry who secured automatic promotion to the DP World Tour after earning a third victory of the season.
Having made the turn at -3, he carded nine pars on the back to secure a one-stroke victory from South African Justin Walters who finished in solo second.
The 35-year-old joins Dane Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen as the second three-time winner this season and will tee it up on the DP World Tour for the remainder of 2024 and the full 2025 Race to Dubai.
Parry overtakes Neergaard-Petersen at the top of the Road to Mallorca Rankings for the first time this season with this win, and he was delighted to add this week’s victory in Italy to his Delhi Challenge and Blot Open de Bretagne titles earlier this year.
“It’s fantastic,” he said. “I’ve got a free hit on the DP World Tour now for the rest of the season where you never know what can happen, and I’ve obviously got next year as well.
“Since I took the lead on day three, it’s been a bit of a grind but I’m obviously really happy.
“I wanted to try to get to 20 under par, and I thought if I got there someone would have to do very well to catch me. I wasn’t quite able to do that, and it was only really Justin that was pushing me at the end, so I could keep an eye on his score and play to that.”
Parry, who prior to this season last tasted victory in 2010, admits his Road to Mallorca campaign has reignited a belief that he can challenge each week when he returns to the DP World Tour.
“Because it’s been a while since I’ve won before this year, it gives you that little spark that you can still do it.
“The other thing this season has done is help me to find that consistency. I’ve never won more than once before in a season so to win three times is a goal that I didn’t think was achievable. I’m over the moon.”
German Nicolai von Dellingshausen fired a six under par round of 65 on the final day to climb into solo third on 16 under par, with Spaniard Angel Ayora producing a round of 65 himself to end the week one shot further back in fourth.
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