David Carey returned an even-par 71 to grab a top 20 finish at the Alps Tour’s Fred Olsen Alps de la Gomera championship at Tecina Golf.
The Castleknock professional’s final round got off to the worst possible start with a double-bogey six at the first before he showed immense bounce back ability with successive birdies at 2 and 3 but that very much set the tone for Carey’s day.
The Dubliner posted five birdies in all but three bogeys and a double meant he couldn’t improve on his seven-under par tally, with Carey notching a top-20 finish in a tie for 17th place.
Meanwhile Jonathan Yates carded five birdies on his own but also minimised the mistakes to just two to card a three-under par 68.
After a 72 on the opening day, the Naas professional’s 67/68 finish saw Yates finish in a share of 21st to keep his momentum going.
At the top, Spaniard Gonzalo Vicente Elena holed a monster putt to clinch the first Alps Tour win of his career at the first playoff hole, while Frenchman Julien Foret, with a bogey, had to settle for second place.
In the very end, it was a battle between two experienced players: on one side,Vicente Elena, 35, had returned a brilliant, bogey-free 65, finishing his third round with two birdies; on the other side Foret, 36, who started the last round in 3rd position, had reached the top of the leaderboard early in the day starting the first 3 holes with as many birdies, and adding an eagle on n. 9 and another birdie on n. 11, to go as low as -16, but had then faltered with bogeys on 12 and 16 and could only match Vicente Elena’s total of -14.
“I must say; I felt no pressure at all, my friend Javier Ballesteros came to caddy me and we faced the hole as if we were in a practice day, and it worked!”
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