Kilkenny’s Mark Power was the highest finishing Irishman at the HotelPlanner TOUR’s Infortar Estonian Challenge in Tallinn as the 26-year-old posted a final round 72 to finish at seven-under in T31.
Power began his final round with a pair of bogeys at the first and second but got back to one-over with a birdie at par-5 sixth. Power made another birdie at the next par-5 he took on, the 15th, before parring his way to the clubhouse. Power sits 93rd in the HotelPlanner Tour rankings and will need a string of good results if he is to break into that coveted top 75.
Power is closely followed by Liam Nolan. The Galway man posted a one-under-par 71 to finish with a final tally of six-under at T36. Nolan is playing some solid golf this season and his spot at 30th in the rankings proves that.
With seven regular seasons events left until the Rolex Grand Final, Nolan will at least fancy his chances to add to his three top-10 finishes this year.
Ronan Mullarney succumbed to an over-par round on Sunday as the 30-year-old posted a two-over-par 74 to finish his weeks work T46 at four-under.
After showcasing some heroics on Saturday morning to squeeze into the final two rounds, Waterford’s Gary Hurley had a Sunday to forget as he undone all of his good work with a final round 78.
A double and three bogeys on the front nine, Hurley was five-over taking on the back nine before making a birdie and another double to post a six-over round. Hurley dropped 35 places to finish T62 at one-under.
Scotland’s Rory Franssen left it late in the round to seal the deal on his first win on the HotelPlanner Tour as the 27-year-old closed out with two birdies. 54-hole leader Andrew Wilson posted a late bogey as Franssen won by three-strokes with a score of 19-under.
“I’m exhausted, to be honest. I was so nervous at times, but thankfully I just hit some good shots on the back nine. Yeah, it was my day,” said the Scot.
Franssen really turned it on in the final nine holes. One-under on the front, he would go on to make four birdies on the back for a bogey free five-under-par 67.
“I said to the lads on Tuesday in the practice round, do you know what, I’d love to play some weekend golf, because I think it’s the third cut I’ve made this season. And then, yeah, I just played the first two rounds and built a bit of confidence. And then from there, everything was a bonus, honestly,” added Franssen.
Coming into the final three holes, it seemed a playoff was looming until a mistake from Wilson forced a bogey at the 17th, giving Franssen that comfort room. 32-year-old Wilson is still seeking his first win on the HotelPlanner Tour and he will be thinking that this was a big missed oppurtunity.
Germany’s Michael Hirmer and England’s David Horsey secured T3 at 15-under. They were closely followed by Spain’s Santiago Tarrio and Denmark’s Sebastian Friedrichsen at 14-under.
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