Despite dropping outside the top-10 on the final day of the Indoor Golf Group Challenge, Paul McBride held on to secure his best Challenge Tour finish and his best finish of the season in Sweden.
The Island man resumed his third and final round – with the tournament reduced to 54 holes after Saturday was a virtual wash-out in Helsingborg due to torrential rain – in sixth at 10-under-par after four holes, but would double-bogey the fifth and then bogey the sixth for a horrible restart.
However, he responded well with a birdie at the ninth, and then added three more after bogeying the 11th to get back to 10-under after a one-under 70 at Allerum Golfklubb, good for a share of 13th.
That beats his tied-14th finish at last year’s Open de Bretagne and is also his best result of the year, and he will hope to carry that momentum into the rest of the season.
The win went to Sweden’s Mikael Lindberg, who described triumphing on home soil as a “dream come true” as he eased to a three-shot win over England’s Steven Tilley, France’s Robin Sciot-Siegrist and Denmark’s Nicolai Tinning.
The 29-year-old, who opened with a bogey on Saturday before play was suspended, had a superb Sunday performance as seven birdies and a bogey led to a five-under 66 that saw him pull clear at 17-under-par.
“I don’t know what to say, it’s been a long week and to be standing here as a champion is a dream come true, it’s amazing,” said Lindberg, who is now up to 11th in the Road to Mallorca.
“It means the world to me. Indoor Golf Group have been a big part of my golfing career. They believe in me, which means the world to me, and to be able to win their tournament is very special.”
Meanwhile, Galgorm’s Tom McKibbin has dropped two places in the Road to Mallorca to 18th after a one-over 72 dropped him back into a share of 52nd at five-under-par, with the 19-year-old needing to finish in the top-20 to earn promotion to the DP World Tour next year.
Gavin Moynihan also finished at five-under after closing with a 70, bouncing back from two bogeys in his first four holes after resuming at his fifth hole, the 14th, with back-to-back birdies to start his back nine.
Leave a comment