A bogey on the penultimate hole left James Sugrue needing an eagle at the last to force his way into a playoff at the Clutch Pro Tour’s Tangier Championship at Heythrop Park, but he could only birdie and was forced to settle for a share of fourth.
Starting the day four shots back of 36-hole leader Jordan Wrisdale, it wasn’t long before Sugrue found himself back in a share of the lead he held after the first round thanks to two birdies in the first four holes and Wrisdale starting with a double bogey.
Unfortunately, Sugrue couldn’t keep the momentum going and after five consecutive pars and turning at -2, he carded his first bogey of the day on the 10th leaving an uphill struggle.
But with nobody running away with it, another birdie on 16 left Sugrue needing to play the final two holes in -2 to take the clubhouse lead or -1 to grab a share. But the bogey on the par-4 17th changed the equation, and his closing birdie ensured that he’d fall one shot shy.
Still, after his T3 finish at the Al Houra Moroccan Masters last month, the Mallow man has risen to 10th in the Order of Merit rankings where the top 3 finishers at the end of the season earn HotelPlanner Tour cards.
Wrisdale recovered from his earlier struggles to birdie two of the last four and then birdied the first playoff hole to survive a three-man playoff with fellow Englishman Thomas Thurloway and Korean Dongwon Kim.
Daniel Mulligan closed with a two-under 69 to move into a share of 15th at -6, while Paul McBride (72), John Ross Galbraith (75) and Robert Brazill (76) all had disappointing final rounds to finish in ties for 27th, 32nd and 48th respectively.
Leave a comment