Richard Kilpatrick sent a message to his challengers that he won’t be relinquishing his PGA in Ireland Order of Merit title easily after he edged to a one-shot win at The Philip Walton Malahide Pro-Am.
Kilpatrick carded a two-under 69 to win by a shot from the in-form trio David Higgins, Richard O’Donovan and Colm Moriarty while Tim Rice of Limerick was a shot further back on level-par.
The Banbridge man recovered from a tough start having bogeyed two of his first three holes, but three birdies in five holes before the turn (5, 6 and 9) saw him head to the back nine in red figures.
Kilpatrick threatened to pull away from the field when he registered further gains on 11 and 13 and although he dropped a shot on the par-3 18th he still had enough to hold on by the minimum.
Waterville’s Higgins will rue dropped shots on 13 and 14 as he missed out on his second win of the campaign.
The Rathfarnham winner birdied the fifth and seventh holes before a late birdie on 16 brought him back into proceedings with the par-5 17th to come. Unfortunately for him, he finished with a pair of pars to narrowly miss out on a third win.
Two-time winner O’Donovan bogeyed the last to fall out of a potential shared win in a rollercoaster round.
The Sunshine Tour bound man double bogeyed the second hole but birdied the fifth and sixth before cancelling out a dropped shot on the par-3 7th with a birdie on 8.
The Lucan man birdied 10 but bogeyed 12 before two successive gains on 14 and 15 propped him alongside Kilpatrick before he let a shot slip on 18.
Joint winner from Woodenbridge with Higgins, Colm Moriarty (Glasson) put on a late spurt with two birdies on 15 and 17 but he came up a shot shy of his second win.
Scoring HERE
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