Maynooth University’s Eoin Murphy continued his winning run with a two-shot victory at the R&A Student Tour Series event in Spain.
The Dundalk man who won his home Scratch Cup last week shot rounds of 71, 70 and 71 for a four-under total at La Sella Golf for his first Student Tour Series win and first of the season.
Teeing off with a one-shot lead heading into the final round, the 23-year-old Masters student in Business and Management dropped an early shot on the third but recovered to birdie the fourth, he birdied the sixth before dropping his second shot of the day on seven.
Back-to-back birdies either side of the turn saw Murphy pull clear of the chasing pack before bogeys on 13 and 16 saw him give the challengers a chance. The Louth man recovered well to birdie the last and finish in style.
“I’m delighted,” said the 23-year-old, who’s ranked 2,265th on the WAGR® standings. “It’s nice to get the monkey off my back early. It was a solid week from the get-go. It’s great to play steady golf for three days and it’s always nice when it comes together.”
Over the summer, Murphy returned to his boyhood sport of hurling to try get in shape for his final fling at the Student Series. He arrived in Spain feeling leaner and stronger as a result, and it paid dividends.“Being that bit fitter has to help, especially coming down the stretch on a sunny day like today when the temperature is in the high twenties. I might have struggled before.”
The win puts him top of the Order of Merit and after seeing fellow Maynooth student Ryan Griffin play in the Arnold Palmer Cup, he is determined to play his way onto the team for Lahinch in 2024.
“It’s my last year of the Student Tour Series, so there’s a wee bit of extra incentive,” Murphy said. “It’s my final year at Maynooth. I’ve been thinking of that the last couple of weeks, and what I want to get out of this year. “I haven’t played in a Palmer Cup (the reward that goes to the order of merit winner) and the goal is to try and work my way onto that team.
“I’ll hopefully kick on now. That’s the plan. You can’t ask for a better start than that to try to get on the Arnold Palmer Cup team.”
As far as his final season on the Student Tour Series goes, Murphy wants to enjoy his remaining time between now and the final event in St Andrews next April.
“The Student Tour Series is brilliant. It’s just got better and better. Getting the chance to play courses like these is fantastic, and great for everyone’s development. I’m sad in a way but it’s time to move on, but I will miss it because it’s been great craic to stay on site at these courses and enjoy times with my teammates. I’m going to make the most of this final ride.”
As ever, Maynooth University was a constant presence on the leaderboard with David Kitt sharing fifth place on four-over while Alex King was a shot further back with new student Jack Hearn on six-over alongside Ulster University’s Matthew Giles and University of Limerick’s Robbie Cannon in a share of ninth place.
Incoming Maynooth scholar Kate Lanigan claimed fourth place in the women’s division on on eight-over after a final round 74 with Sweden’s Elice Fredriksson winning on two-under.
Ulster University’s Kate Dwyer was seventh.
Scoring HERE
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