Sharpshooter Sharvin reignites season hopes at Bridgestone

Cormac Sharvin blasted his way to fourth place finish after firing a closing six-under-par round of 65 at the Bridgestone Challenge in Luton.

 
The Ardglass professional drained eight birdies to climb 13 places up the leaderboard after an incredible three days of scoring. Sharvin went 66,66, 65 for his final three rounds, posting 26 birdies for the week to finish in a tie for fourth on 16-under-par.
He collects a cheque worth € 8,190 for the haul but still finds himself outside the top-45 in the Road to Ras Al Khaimah rankings as he searches for a route to the main tour. 
Fortunately for Sharvin, he still has time on his side and he looks to be finding top gear just in the nick of it, with six events still remaining on the circuit.
John Ross Galbraith proved the only other Irishman to make a sharp weekend cut but the Whitehead professional failed to take advantage, signing off on his challenge with a one-over 72 for a four-under total and a share of 58th.
Of the Irish who didn’t make it to the weekend, three-under proved the magic number earlier in the week and unfortunately that was one shot too many for both Chris Selfridge and Jonathan Caldwell who will be left to wonder what might have been after narrowly missing out despite rousing finishes.
Selfridge birdied his final two holes on Friday while Clandeboye’s Caldwell went one better in picking off his last three, but both ultimately fell short of the required mark.
Ruaidhri McGee and Paul McBride were one stroke further back on minus-one, the latter having battled bravely to a consoling 67 in round two. While Old Conna’s Neil O’Briain completed the Irish roster this week at even par for his 36-hole stint.
Tom Lewis won the Bridgestone Challenge by five shots to return to the winners’ circle after a seven year absence.
Lewis carded a seven-under-par round of 64 to triumph at Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf and Spa ahead of Dimitrios Papadatos, becoming the first Englishman to lift the Bridgestone Challenge and winning for the first time since his 2011 Portugal Masters success on the European Tour.
The local Bedfordshire star began the final round one stroke behind overnight leaders Stanislav Matus and Papadatos but backed up his opening rounds of 63-67-67 to claim his first European Challenge Tour title.
A bogey on the first did not trouble the 27 year old as he set his sights on glory with birdies on the following three holes to join the leaders. A further three gains around the turn saw Lewis take the lead and then extend it as the sun shone on the Bedfordshire parkland.
With the chasing pack far behind, Lewis birdied the par three 13th and par five 17th to move to 23-under-par, before a tap-in par on the 18th sealed a memorable victory.
“This win means a lot. It doesn’t matter whether you win a huge event or a small event, and this is a big event on the Challenge Tour, either way it means a lot,” he said.
“I’ve probably had more fun this week then I did seven years ago. I appreciate the win a lot more now. I’ve struggled over the years and when you struggle or lose something you appreciate things more. That is something that I took advantage of when I was younger, so if I can continue to play like this and get a few more wins, then I can really appreciate what I’m doing.
“It wasn’t as easy as I thought it was going to be today. It was very windy, and the course was very bouncy. I drove it well, though, and when I was in position I was able to go at the pins and I holed the putts when I needed to.
“This win gives me a lot of confidence. I didn’t panic today, and I think that’s the big thing I can take from this week.”
With his victory, Lewis leaps from 56th to 18th on the Road to Ras Al Khaimah. Papadatos moves to 12th, while Soderberg jumps into second place in the Rankings with six events to play.
Final scores:
 
 261 T Lewis (Eng) 63 67 67 64, 
 266 D Papadatos (Aus) 63 63 70 70, S Soderberg (Swe) 63 69 65 69, 
 268 T Murray (Eng) 68 69 66 65, N Von Dellingshausen  (Ger) 66 68 65 69, C Sharvin (Nir) 71 66 66 65, M Ford (Eng) 70 68 62 68, 
 269 S Matus  (Cze) 61 69 66 73, 
 270 R Roussel  (Fra) 67 70 65 68, H Dobson (Eng) 69 67 66 68, T Sloman (am) (Eng) 63 73 65 69, 
 271 J McDonald  (Sco) 66 69 68 68, R McGowan  (Eng) 69 67 68 67, N Cullen (Aus) 66 66 68 71, J Girrbach (Sui) 70 69 68 64, J Senior (Eng) 67 69 64 71, 
 272 D Coupland (Eng) 70 66 69 67, B Stow (Eng) 64 68 71 69, M Iten  (Sui) 65 71 65 71, 
 273 R Macintyre  (Sco) 67 68 69 69, M Armitage (Eng) 70 65 66 72, R Langasque  (Fra) 67 67 68 71, M Fenasse (Fra) 68 67 71 67, 
 274 J Doherty  (Sco) 72 67 68 67, M Schmitt  (Ger) 70 69 68 67, J Wrisdale (Eng) 68 69 69 68, A Wilson (am) (Eng) 67 71 68 68, 
 275 J Brun  (Fra) 64 69 70 72, C Hill (Sco) 71 66 69 69, R Hjelm (Den) 67 67 73 68, 
 276 N Kimsey (Eng) 66 70 65 75, A Arnaus (Esp) 72 67 67 70, M Orrin (Eng) 66 73 69 68, J Lima  (Por) 65 72 70 69, J Abbott (Eng) 68 69 69 70, E Di Nitto  (Ita) 69 65 70 72, D Foos (Ger) 72 66 69 69, S Henry  (Sco) 69 70 69 68, P Figueiredo  (Por) 69 70 67 70, 
 277 J Maw (Eng) 71 65 73 68, A Wennstam (Swe) 65 71 70 71, J Carlsson (Swe) 65 74 67 71, J Huldahl (Den) 65 67 70 75, T Tree (Eng) 68 70 69 70, B Evans  (Eng) 69 69 68 71, S Locke (Sco) 66 68 73 70, T Linard (Fra) 67 67 70 73, P Maddy (Eng) 70 69 69 69, O Stark (Swe) 68 68 70 71, 
 278 M Lundberg (Swe) 68 71 66 73, C Braeunig   (Ger) 70 69 73 66, R Saxton (Ned) 66 72 69 71, 
 279 G Porteous (Eng) 70 67 69 73, M Ovesen (Den) 67 71 68 73, R Kellett (Sco) 69 69 72 69, D Perrier (Fra) 65 73 73 68, E Cuartero Blanco  (Esp) 72 67 68 72, 
 280 J Van Der Vaart (Ned) 68 71 71 70, J Mullen  (Eng) 69 68 69 74, J Galbraith  (Nir) 69 70 69 72, N Geyger (Chi) 68 69 68 75, 
 281 B Easton (RSA) 71 67 70 73, 
 282 H Leon (Chi) 72 67 70 73, 
 283 J Rutherford (Eng) 67 70 73 73, 
 284 J Lando Casanova  (Fra) 70 69 72 73, 
 286 J Marin (Esp) 69 70 72 75, 
 287 B Robinson (Eng) 71 67 70 79, 
 ** P Mejow (Ger) 66 72 RT  0, 
Missed Cut:
 140 M Trappel  (Aut) 74 66 0 0, N Johansson (Swe) 72 68 0 0, D Dixon (Eng) 72 68 0 0, M Schneider (Ger) 71 69 0 0, D Boote (Wal) 67 73 0 0, C Selfridge  (Nir) 71 69 0 0, V Riu  (Fra) 73 67 0 0, D Stewart (Sco) 70 70 0 0, N Lemke (Swe) 70 70 0 0, B Hellgren  (Swe) 69 71 0 0, J Caldwell  (Nir) 71 69 0 0, A Boasson  (Isl) 68 72 0 0, Å Nilsson (Swe) 71 69 0 0, J Sjöholm (Swe) 72 68 0 0, A Rozner  (Fra) 75 65 0 0, M Carlsson  (Swe) 71 69 0 0, 
 141 J Sarasti  (Esp) 69 72 0 0, S Dyson  (Eng) 72 69 0 0, S Einhaus (Ger) 68 73 0 0, R McGee (Irl) 71 70 0 0, S Forsström (Swe) 68 73 0 0, O Lindell  (Fin) 75 66 0 0, F Laporta (Ita) 68 73 0 0, M Lampert (Ger) 72 69 0 0, P McBride (Irl) 74 67 0 0, J Burnage (am) (Eng) 70 71 0 0, 
 142 N Marsh  (Eng) 70 72 0 0, J McLeary  (Sco) 68 74 0 0, M Calderon (Chi) 70 72 0 0, A Meronk  (Pol) 71 71 0 0, M Madsen  (Den) 70 72 0 0, R Van West  (Ned) 67 75 0 0, A Plant (Eng) 70 72 0 0, H Magnus (Isl) 73 69 0 0, R Sciot-Siegrist  (Fra) 71 71 0 0, B Moore  (Eng) 73 69 0 0, J Arnoy (Nor) 68 74 0 0, M Haastrup  (Den) 70 72 0 0, N O’Briain (Irl) 70 72 0 0, I Cantero Gutierrez  (Esp) 71 71 0 0, R Santos  (Por) 70 72 0 0, L Johnston (Sco) 70 72 0 0, R Enoch  (Wal) 73 69 0 0, 
 143 M Kim (Kor) 69 74 0 0, T Clements (Eng) 74 69 0 0, M Young (Eng) 69 74 0 0, U Coussaud (Fra) 70 73 0 0, B Parker  (Eng) 72 71 0 0, N Poppleton (am) (Eng) 73 70 0 0, 
 144 S Towndrow (Eng) 72 72 0 0, D Suchan  (Cze) 74 70 0 0, C Feldborg Nielsen (Swe) 73 71 0 0, R Wallis (Eng) 74 70 0 0, O Lengden (Swe) 71 73 0 0, D Law (Sco) 75 69 0 0, L Van Meijel (Ned) 70 74 0 0, S Tiley (Eng) 75 69 0 0, 
 145 P Dedek  (Cze) 72 73 0 0, T Santos Silva  (Por) 68 77 0 0, Z Felder  (Sui) 72 73 0 0, 
 146 A Chapman  (Eng) 76 70 0 0, J Adams (Eng) 70 76 0 0, O Wilson (Eng) 76 70 0 0, M Stewart (Sco) 73 73 0 0, J Shim  (Kor) 73 73 0 0, S Parry  (Eng) 74 72 0 0, 
 147 P Howard  (Eng) 73 74 0 0, L Robinson (Eng) 75 72 0 0, B Eccles (Aus) 74 73 0 0, 
 148 R Davies (Wal) 71 77 0 0, 
 149 D Hendry (Sco) 76 73 0 0, S Benson (Eng) 72 77 0 0, J Hilleard  (Eng) 72 77 0 0, 
 150 C Sahlstrom (Swe) 73 77 0 0, 
 151 S Wittmann (Aut) 78 73 0 0, T Bessa (Por) 81 70 0 0, A Mawji (Eng) 73 78 0 0, 
 152 L Buijs (Bel) 78 74 0 0, 
 153 H Dana (Ger) 80 73 0 0, 
 157 H Yamac (Tur) 76 81 0 0, 
 161 A Telli (am) (Tur) 79 82 0 0, 
 ** J Heath  (Eng) 72 WD  0 0, A Keogh (Eng) 75 WD  0 0, C Doak (Sco) 72 WD  0 0, F Maccario (Ita) 73 RT  0 0, M Cort (Eng) 72 RT  0 0, H Casey (Eng) RT  0 0 0, E Ferguson  (Sco) RT  0 0 0.