Stuart Grehan picked up his second top-15 finish in as many events on the PGA EuroPro Tour after finishing 15th at The Q Hotels Collection Championship in Hexham.
The Tullamore man fired a second consecutive 71 at Slaley Hall to finish the week four-under-par, but will think that his round could have been much better after a rapid start.
Starting the day three-under, Grehan strung together three consecutive birdies at the second, third and fourth to rocket up the leaderboard to six-under, and at one point he cracked the top-10.
But that would be as good as it would get as he failed to pick up another birdie in his round, instead dropping two shots on his way back to the clubhouse at the 12th and 18th to finish with a 71 and in 15th.
That was nine shots behind Wath’s Nicholas Poppleton, who shot a four-under 68 to come from behind to claim a one-shot win over Lindrick’s Bailey Gill at 13-under-par.
The Englishman started the day two shots behind Northamptonshire’s Benjamin Jones, but the overnight leader collapsed down the stretch with four bogeys in his last five holes and could only manage a level-par 72, and that allowed his playing partner to steal in and claim the win.
Gill almost had a remarkable double celebration as he set the clubhouse target at 12-under with a 67 that included a hole-in-one at the par-three eighth, but a bogey at the 18th cost him.
That allowed Poppleton to drop three shots in his last three holes and still win thanks to a hot start that saw him birdie five of his first eight holes, and an eagle at the 14th was the winning of the tournament.
Meanwhile, Limerick’s Tim Rice carded six bogeys and two birdies in a disappointing four-over 76 to finish his week two-over-par and in 39th.
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