McGovern signs off in style on French Staysure assignment

Brendan McGovern returned a three-under par 69 to enjoy his best round of the week on the final day of the Paris Legends Championship.

The Headfort professional fired three birdies and an eagle in a superb closing effort, taking home a cheque worth €1,495 for his tied 32^nd finish at four-over par.

At the top, David Shacklady secured back-to-back Staysure Tour titles after a gripping battle with Jean-François Remésy which went to a play-off at Racing Club de France la Boulie.

The Englishman entered the final day in a share of the lead with James Kingston but soon found himself battling home star Remésy, who carded three birdies over his opening nine holes to join Shacklady at the top of the leaderboard by the time they reached the turn.

Remésy, who finished in a tie for second at the championship twelve months ago, had a ten foot eagle putt to win on the 72^nd hole, but watched his effort slip agonisingly past, and the tournament was sent to a play-off when Shacklady tapped in for par.

With Remésy finding difficulty off the tee on the first extra hole, two putts were enough for the 52-year-old to seal his second consecutive win following triumph at The Sinclair Invitational three weeks ago.

‘’It’s amazing to win back-to-back titles,” Shacklady said. “I would have just taken the one win. It’s not easy to win on this Tour at all as there are some great players out here, so to win twice is beyond my wildest dreams. I’m just delighted.

‘’I stayed very patient, it’s a very tricky golf course and you’ve got to be quite strategic with where you hit your shots. I’m hitting it lovely, so it was just about picking your spot and executing the shots.”

The Lancashire player follows in the footsteps of defending champion Gary Orr, who also celebrated back-to-back victories in Paris twelve months ago.

‘’I enjoyed it last year and fancied it this week with the way I’m playing and how the golf course suits my eye. It was back and forth all round, particularly over the back nine, with both of us getting plenty of birdies.

“He hit a great shot into the last and had the opportunity to win it there. It was a just a great battle and I had so much fun playing out there today.”

Overnight leader Kingston finished in third place, two shots out of the play-off, after a final round of two under par 70, while Englishman Peter Baker finished one shot further back in fourth.

With his victory Shacklady moves into fourth on the Staysure Tour Order of Merit, with Phillip Price continuing to lead the way following his seventh place finish in Paris.

The Staysure Tour now heads to Austria for the Murhof Legends – Austrian Senior Open, which gets under way at Golfclub Murhof from September 27-29.

Final scores:

203 D Shacklady (Eng) 69 66 68, J Remesy (Fra) 70 66 67,
205 J Kingston (RSA) 68 67 70,
206 P Baker (Eng) 69 69 68,
208 M Brier (Aut) 74 68 66, M Atlevi (Swe) 70 69 69,
209 T Levet (Fra) 67 71 71, P Price (Wal) 69 73 67, J Carriles (Esp) 71 69 69,
210 J Coceres (Arg) 70 70 70, J Haeggman (Swe) 68 72 70, P Streeter (Eng) 71 71 68,
211 R Chapman (Eng) 70 67 74, S Dodd (Wal) 71 71 69, C Williams (RSA) 73 71 67,
213 P Fowler (Aus) 75 74 64, G Orr (Sco) 73 71 69, P Wesselingh (Eng) 70 72 71, M Martin (Esp) 72 74 67, M Davis (Eng) 74 66 73, S Luna (Esp) 72 71 70,
214 M Farry (Fra) 71 72 71, C Monasterio (Arg) 73 71 70, R Gomez (Arg) 75 71 68, P Golding (Eng) 74 71 69,
217 C Suneson (Esp) 73 73 71,
218 G Wolstenholme (Eng) 73 74 71, A Oldcorn (Sco) 74 75 69, S Little (Eng) 72 73 73,
219 S Brown (Eng) 72 78 69, J Lomas (Eng) 75 74 70,
220 M Mouland (Wal) 73 74 73, A Bossert (Sui) 72 77 71, S Tinning (Den) 73 75 72, B McGovern (Irl) 71 80 69,
221 G Evans (Eng) 76 74 71, M Molina (Arg) 75 71 75, N Sweet (Eng) 71 81 69,
222 P Wilson (Eng) 75 72 75, D Gilford (Eng) 72 78 72,
223 J Sallat (Fra) 75 80 68, P Scott (Eng) 77 73 73,
224 J Murphy (Eng) 74 75 75, N Job (Eng) 80 74 70, G Marks (Eng) 74 74 76,
225 T Thelen (USA) 77 74 74,
226 A Sherborne (Eng) 74 75 77,
227 M Wharton (Eng) 80 75 72, M McLean (Eng) 74 75 78,
229 J Sandelin (Swe) 76 79 74, G Emerson (Eng) 75 76 78,
232 S Bennett (Eng) 80 76 76,
233 P Walton (Irl) 79 82 72,
236 B Longmuir (Sco) 82 78 76,