John Murphy shot a closing three-under to 69 and finished tied for 11th at the HotelPlanner Tour’s English Trophy and narrowly missed out on earning an invitation to next week’s Portugal Challenge.
The Kinsale man, who sits 9th on the Clutch Pro Tour Order of Merit and has a mathematical chance of earning a HotelPlanner Tour card by climbing into the top three with a big performance at the Tour Championship which begins on September 30, was hoping to earn a promotion via alternate means as he went into the final round at The Caversham just three off the lead.
Playing on a National Invite, a win would bring a HotelPlanner Tour card and full status for next season regardless, while a top 10 finish would earn entry to the Portugal Challenge and another chance to make a big move up the Road to Mallorca Rankings.
Two birdies on his opening nine holes was a solid start but he’d lost ground on the leaders at the turn and had fallen outside the top 10, but an eagle on the par-5 14th got him back on course for an invitation to play next week. A bogey on the 15th ultimately proved costly as he couldn’t find the birdie he needed over the closing three and had to settle for a T11 finish at -16.
Gary Hurley produced his lowest round of the week on the final day, and his six-under 66 lifted him into a share of 19th place at 14-under. Hurley lies in 54th place in the rankings and has four regular starts remaining to push his way into the top 45 who will compete in the Rolex Grand Final.
Frederik Kjettrup was also playing on an invitation and he is now a HotelPlanner Tour winner after the Dane birdied the 72nd hole to post his second 67 of the weekend to reach 21-under, one stroke clear of Swiss Ronan Kleu.
Kjettrup secures his first win on the HotelPlanner Tour, having made the cut just once so far this season, at the Blot Play9, where he finished in a tie for second.
Kjettrup propels himself up to 15th on the season-long Road to Mallorca Rankings with the win, and earns a spot in next week’s Open De Portugal and the Abu Dhabi Challenge, before the season-ending playoffs in China and Mallorca.
“I don’t think it’s quite settled in yet,” he said. “It was a weird finish, making a 30-foot slider downhill to win it by one on the last hole but it feels amazing.
“I played poorly on the front nine, to be honest. It was frustrating for sure, but I was proud of how I just kept doing my thing and stayed in there and eventually got back in the fight.
“I think at some point I was like two, maybe three shots out of it. So just proud of how I fought my way back and just played good on the back nine to clinch it.”
An opening round 68 sent the 26-year-old well on his way, before a second round 65 took him to 11 under par, one-stoke off the lead, heading into the weekend.
A five under par 67 on moving day saw the Dane take the solo lead at the end of round three, before closing on the same number to lift the trophy.
After a tense front nine for the players atop of the bunched leaderboard on the final day, Kjettrup made the turn level par after a dropped shot at the second was gained back at the par five seventh. Kjettrup, however, made three birdies in a row after making the turn, before taking advantage of the last par five to get within one stroke of clubhouse leader Kleu.
After Kjettrup dropped a shot at the par four 16th, the crown looked to be Kleu’s, however an excellent tee shot at the par three 17th, set him up for birdie.
Kjettrup seemed to have let the nerves get the better of him on the last, as his approach shot left him a difficult birdie putt and almost a certain play-off, but he would make it to claim the title in Reading.
“I’d seen the leaderboard on 15 that I was on 20 and tied for the lead, and I bogeyed 16, so I knew I was one shy. The pin was kind of tucked, but given the situation, it was probably one of the first times where I was really going for a tucked pin this week.
“I just went for it. It kind of felt like a good number with the wind and everything and just hit a good shot. It was nice to pull it off when it was needed and hit it to a foot.
“On the 18th I only had 112 metres from the fairway so it was kind of in between two clubs for me. I tried to take more club and hit it smooth and just kind of tucked it a little bit giving kind of a nasty putt here on 18, up over a slope and then down. But yeah, read it good and went in.
“You’re just trying to get it down there and tap it in and if it goes in, it goes in. I’m just shocked really.”
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