Headfort Professional Brendan McGovern dedicated his Senior Tour Qualifying School Final Stage victory to his uncle after finishing top of the class with a score of 11 under par.
The 51 year old successfully made his way through Q-School for the second consecutive year, going wire-to-wire with rounds of 66-66-73-68 to finish six strokes ahead of the chasing pack.
“It was a different Brendan McGovern out there today,” he said. “Last year, after finishing Q-School, nobody had told me that my uncle had passed away while I had been practicing.
“My uncle was buried a year ago today and I have to dedicate this to him. He was my 15th club. He was the one who got me into golf, and that kept me going today.”
“I was very solid all week and even after my third round I was very comfortable. Today, I missed one green and hit one bogey.”
McGovern finished six strokes clear of Clark Dennis, Gary Rusnak and Peter Wilson who shared second place on five under par, securing their places on the 2017 European Senior Tour.
A play-off determined the final card as Frenchman Jean Pierre Sallat beat Jeff Hall and David Shacklady with a birdie on the first extra hole.
Speaking after the play-off, Sallat said: “It was terrible out there, it was very difficult. The format was tough but I hit a good putt in the play-off.
“It’s fantastic and my card is now in my pocket.” Rusnak successfully navigated Qualifying School for a second time after previously securing his card for the Senior Tour in 2014.
“That was tough, I don’t want to have to do this again,” the American said. “I finished well, like I did three years ago. I made a big birdie on 17 and it gave me a little leeway for 18, but I was still nervous.
Dennis and Wilson will make their Senior Tour debuts when the season begins at the Sharjah Senior Golf Masters presented by Shurooq in March.
Final scores:
273 B McGovern (Irl) 66 66 73 68,
279 G Rusnak (USA) 68 71 70 70, C Dennis (USA) 70 72 64 73, P Wilson (Eng) 66 75 69 69,
281 D Shacklady (Eng) 70 70 71 70, J Sallat (Fra) 72 68 69 72, J Hall (Eng) 70 72 69 70,
282 P Streeter (Eng) 72 71 70 69, M Wharton (Eng) 71 70 71 70,
283 S McNally (Eng) 72 69 74 68, M Davis (Eng) 71 74 65 73, J Steenkamer (Ned) 70 75 71 67, J Carriles (Esp) 73 70 65 75,
284 B Conser (USA) 71 67 69 77,
285 J Bevan (Eng) 69 75 72 69,
286 J Carter (USA) 71 71 70 74,
287 A Fernandez (Chi) 72 72 72 71, G Wall (Aus) 73 73 71 70, T Spence (Eng) 71 71 74 71,
288 J Cheetham (Eng) 74 68 69 77, C Swart (RSA) 73 72 70 73,
289 D Wettlaufer (Can) 70 76 68 75,
290 J Romero (Esp) 72 69 73 76, F Mann (Sco) 73 76 68 73,
293 W Bladon (Eng) 77 70 70 76, J Berendt (Arg) 74 71 71 77,
294 C Hunsucker (USA) 69 69 73 83,
296 Y Nilsson (Swe) 72 71 73 80,
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