A one-under-par final round for Royal Dublin’s Max Kennedy sees the 24-year-old end his week in Czechia in T27 at seven-under. There may be some element of disappointment on Kennedy’s mind considering his early week performances seemed to promise much more.
A stutter on the back nine on Saturday really put a dent into Kennedy’s chances of a first professional win and that grey cloud may have followed him into Sunday’s final round as he could only managed a one-under-par 70 on a scorable Kaskáda Golf Resort in scoring conditions.
An early birdie meant for an ideal start for Kennedy but that was quickly squashed by a bogey at the second and eighth before Kennedy got back to level par for the day with a birdie at the ninth.
Confidence began to build in Kennedy’s game as he turned the birdie at nine into a hat trick with two more at 10 and 11 before another flurry of errors came calling. Kennedy made a double at the 12th before following it up with a bogey at the 13th.
It was a week of what ifs for Kennedy, as he shown in glimpses that he is well capable of a win on the HotelPlanner TOUR. A textbook eagle at the par-5 15th was a prime example of that.
Conor Purcell posted a one-over-par final round on Sunday as the 29-year-old Dubliner finished his weeks work in T49 at one-under. Purcell shown some good qualities as he made four birdies but they were ultimately over-shadowed by an early triple bogey that came at the second hole.
Mark Power matched his best round of the week, matching Friday’s 68 with another on Sunday to finish alongside Purcell in T49. Power made four birdies and a bogey on his route to a three-under-par round.
Germany’s Anton Albers secured his first HotelPlanner win, posting a six-under-par 65 to win by three strokes at 20-under. Albers was pretty much flawless all week, making just six bogeys – with four of them coming in the first round. Albers made one bogey on Sunday, but that square was hidden amongst seven circles.
“It feels amazing I have been waiting for this moment for a long time and I’m glad it finally came,” said the German.
“I didn’t really think too much about the score I just tried to keep going and keep the momentum up but looking at the numbers and the score now, its quite nice. It’s nice to finally get that win under my belt but I still need to keep doing what I’ve been doing and that’s not to focus on results too much,” he added.
Japan’s Tatsunori Shogenji and USA’s Alex Goff shared second place at 17-under. Goff is enjoying his first season on the HotelPlanner TOUR as the 26-year-old has managed to tally up some decent finishes.
England’s Callum Tarren was one of three leaders after 54 holes but a two-under-par final round seen him drop to T4. Hamish Brown, who led alongside Albers and Tarren had a day to forget as the Dane posted a four-over-par 75 to drop to T15. Brown had a blow up hole at the par-5 15th, making a triple bogey.
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