Max Kennedy is safely through to next week’s DP World Tour Final Stage Qualifying at Infinitum Golf after a final-round of 69 saw him advance through Second Stage at Isla Canela.
The Royal Dublin amateur put himself in excellent position with a third-round 65, and finished the deal with a three-under in the final round which saw him finish in a three-way tie for 14th with 23 spots available.
But it wasn’t all plain sailing, and an early birdie was followed by bogeys on three and five and he found himself perilously placed. A birdie on the sixth helped settle the nerves, and from there he was blemish-free, making birdies on 10, 13 and 15 to afford himself breathing space and the luxury of being able to par the par-5 closing hole and still advance with a shot to spare.
Playing alongside Kennedy, Mark Power needed to go low to give himself a chance and birdies at four, five and eight kept his slim chances alive. Six pars followed, but an eagle-three on 15 breathed fresh life into the challenge, but he reached the par-5 last knowing that anything short of another eagle was likely to see him come up short and the resulting ‘six’ confirmed that he’ll not be in attendance on the Costa Daurada next week.
Cormac Sharvin finished tied for 43rd at -8, while Paul McBride, who was out of contention after round three, signed off with a four-under 68.
David Kitt had already withdrawn from the qualifier at Fontanals Golf Club in Girona, leaving Rowan Lester as the only Irish participant in the final round but his chances had already evaporated and he signed off with a one-over 71 to finish T68. It was a similar story for Ronan Mullarney at Golf Las Pinaillas, and he also ended the week in T68 after a closing 74.
That only leaves Jonathan Caldwell, Liam Nolan, Paul Dunne and Niall Kearney who were in action at Desert Springs in south eastern Spain. Weather forced the start of round four to be delayed and they’ll have to return on Monday morning to complete their weeks.
Following the completion of round three, Caldwell was on course to be one of the 23 qualifiers as he sat tied for 10th at -11, with Nolan a shot outside the qualifying places, sitting T25 at -8, with Dunne two behind at -6 and Kearney still in with an outside chance at -5.
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