Karl McCormack was left ruing a three-over-par final ten holes at the Toro Tour’s season-opening event at Atalaya Golf Club in southern Spain, but the Portarlington man still secured a third-place finish in the professional category.
Four-under through through seven thanks to four successive birdies starting on the fourth saw him move to eight-under after 43 holes of the 54-hole event, and though he’d add two more birdies on the back nine, bogies at 10, 13 and 17 and a double bogey on 12 saw him fall back to -5 by tournament’s end.
His final tally left him tied for sixth overall, but he took solo-third in the professional section despite finishing well off the incredible pace set by Frenchman Galaad Hoarau.
Carton House amateur Cathal MacCanna three-under final round was the best of the four Irish in the field, and it elevated him to sixth place overall in the amateur category with a finishing score of -2.
Letterkenny’s Jamie Foley and Royal Tara’s Sean Whelan both shot disappointing final rounds of +3 and +6 respectively to finish 10th and 14th in the amateur section.
There was no stopping Hoarau, however, who opened with rounds of 64 and 67 before shooting a blistering nine-under 62 on the final day to cruise to a six-shot victory over Holland’s Rodi Vlasveld, with local man Sebastian Desoisa in third.
Desoisa’s -14 tally was enough to see him take leading amateur status by three strokes over England’s George Ash.
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