Christopher O’Connor is the Munster Senior Men’s Open champion after a brilliant back nine helped him to a two-shot victory at Dungarvan.
The Corrstown man shot a joint-low round of the day with a one-under 71 to win on one-over-par. Overnight leader John O’Brien shot a four-over 76 to claim the runner-up position on three-over.
O’Connor opened with a bogey six but steadied the ship with ten successive pars before taking control of the championship on the back nine.
O’Connor kickstarted his final round with a birdie on the par-5 12th before a birdie on the 18th saw him steer clear of O’Brien.
O’Brien of Castlemartyr piled the pressure on with a closing eagle which was the highlight in a day of struggle for the first-round leader.
After an opening 71 it appeared to be normal service resumed after he birdied the first but followed that with five bogeys in six holes to turn in 40. O’Brien’s challenge seemed all but over after dropped shots on 14 and 16 saw him slip outside the top-10 but an eagle-three at 18 gave him hope of an O’Connor collapse.
Four birdies in his last ten holes gave Alan Condren a share of third place on four-over. The Greystones native shot a level-par 72 after he recovered from a poor start.
An opening birdie was followed by bogeys on the second, fourth and sixth while he also double-bogeyed the fifth.
Woodbrook’s Peter McNeill also shot a 72 to join Condren in third while a closing eagle saw Mount Juliet’s John Reynolds complete the third-placed trio with a one-over 73.
Just five shots separated the top-12 players while Galway man Joe Lyons was in a share of 13th on seven-over.
Former Amateur champion Garth McGimpsey finished ten-over while outgoing Irish captain John ‘Blondie’ Carroll was twelve-over after back-to-back 78s.
Both players secured top-10 finishes in the over-65 category as Portmarnock’s Adrian Morrow finished on nine-over-par to take the prize.
- Full scoring HERE
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