Dermot McElroy and John Ross Galbraith finished T5 and T7 respectively at the Clutch Pro Tour’s Mizuno Masters at Bowood PGA in Wiltshire, as Alex Maguire and Paul McBride held onto their places in the top three on the Order of Merit.
McElroy entered the final round three back and tied for third with Galbraith one further adrift, but a double bogey on the par-5 fourth proved a costly error for the Ballymena man, and though he sandwiched it with birdies on three and five and added another birdie on eight, he’d fallen four behind at the turn.
Back-to-back birdies on 10 and 11 kept him moving in the right direction, but after adding another on 14, a bogey on the 15th – the final par-5 on the course – effectively ended all hopes of a late smash and grab victory.
Galbraith got off to a slow start by bogeying the first and had to wait until nine to get his first red number on the board. He followed that with another birdie on 10 and though he bogeyed 12, he picked up two more strokes on the way home to finish on -7.
Two bogeys in his final three holes meant a closing level-par 72 and a T25 finish for Alex Maguire who remains in second place on the Order of Merit with just three events remaining and the top three in the rankings at season’s end gaining promotion to the HotelPlanner Tour for 2027.
Though Paul McBride missed the cut, he hangs on to third place in the rankings and both men have prioritised next week’s Mannings Heath Masters over places in the Irish Challenge as they look to fend off challengers to their promotion places.
John Murphy remains in sixth place on the Order of Merit after a closing 75 that featured three double bogeys, two bogeys and five birdies to end the week tied for 33rd.
England’s Angus Flanagan, who held a share of the 36-hole lead, shot a closing 67 to win by four. The victory lifted him to eighth place on the rankings, and with the final three events offering elevated points, there is plenty scope for volatility at the sharp end of the rankings.
Leave a comment