England’s Robert Coles is on course to become the king of the Challenge Tour after a play-off win in the Challenge of Ireland sent him rocketing to the top to the rankings.

The 36 year old shot fired seven birdies in a closing 67 to set the target at 10 under par before beating Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts with a birdie on their third visit to the par-five 18th at Moyvalley’s Champions Club.

“I knew I had to start fast to get myself back into the tournament, and I did that with two opening birdies,” said Coles, who birdied six of his first ten holes. “That gave me a lot of confidence. I wish we could putt on greens that good all the time.”

Ironically, Jonathan Caldwell’s putting let him down and his title challenge evaporated with a final round 74 that relegated him to a share of 13th place with Glasson’s Colm Moriarty on five under par.

Tied for second place overnight, just a stroke behind leader Andrew Marshall, the Ulsterman lost his touch when it mattered most and was caught in a stampede by the chasing pack.

“It wasn’t the weekend I was looking for and it was putting that cost me more than anything,” said Caldwell, who followed a pair of opening 68s with rounds of 73 and 74. “I just didn’t hole as many putts as I did over the first two days and that puts a lot of pressure on your long game.”

The former Walker Cup star (25) missed good birdie chances at the first three holes and while he picked up a shot at the fourth and bounced back from a bogey at the fifth with a birdie four at the next, he three putted the eighth for a par five and bogeyed the ninth before limping home in three over par.

“I was chasing it after the bogey on nine but I still take a lot of positives out of the week,” he added. “My ball-striking was great but I need work on my short game before I get to St Omer next week.”

Moriarty closed with a 71, the only sub par score by the ten Irish contenders on a final day when 29 players broke par.

Five strokes behind Marshall (75) entering the final round, Coles played his first 10 holes in six under par before following bogeys at the 14th and 16th with a birdie at the 18th to set the clubhouse target at 10 under.

Former Ryder Cup star Peter Baker (68) missed an eight foot chance at the last that would have forced a play-off but Colsaerts (68) pulled it off with two closing birdies before paying for his inconsistency.

Having holed a 25 footer for a par to survive at the first extra hole, the Belgian missed a 12 footer for the title on their second visit to the 18th before failing to hit the green in three the third time around.

Coles pounced by rifling a 239-yard three iron to 35 feet and two-putted comfortably for his second win of the season that leaves him just one victory away from automatic promotion to the main tour.


Challenge of Ireland presented by Moyvalley, Champions Club (Par 72)
Final scores:
278 R Coles (Eng) 68 69 74 67, N Colsaerts (Bel) 70 66 74 68,
279 P Baker (Eng) 68 72 71 68, P Whiteford (Sco) 71 68 72 68,
280 P Kaensche (Nor) 68 71 70 71,
281 M Curtain (Aus) 73 69 68 71,
282 S Surry (Eng) 75 69 72 66, R Davies (Wal) 71 67 72 72, D Küpper (Ger) 72 71 72 67, Å Nilsson (Swe) 67 68 76 71, F Calmels (Fra) 72 68 69 73, E Ramsay (Sco) 74 69 68 71,
283 C Moriarty (Irl) 70 70 72 71, J Caldwell (Nir) 68 68 73 74, A Marshall (Eng) 70 71 67 75, S Walker (Eng) 72 70 71 70,
284 J Hepworth (Eng) 70 71 74 69, M Haastrup (Den) 70 70 73 71, G Woodman (Eng) 69 74 73 68, P Gustafsson (Swe) 70 69 73 72,
285 P Del Grosso (Arg) 73 73 69 70, M Korhonen (Fin) 70 73 70 72,
286 P Bocian (Swe) 74 72 69 71, D Ulrich (Sui) 72 70 72 72, J Olesen (Den) 71 72 72 71, F Fritsch (Ger) 72 74 70 70, J Abbate (Arg) 72 74 71 69, C Carranza (Arg) 70 72 70 74, N Lemke (Swe) 72 71 70 73,
287 B Mason (Eng) 72 71 69 75, C Russo (Fra) 73 71 71 72, A Mellor (Eng) 72 67 77 71, J Etulain (Arg) 68 73 74 72, J Quesne (Fra) 71 74 71 71,
288 J Morrison (Eng) 72 72 74 70, M Rodriguez (Arg) 70 75 73 70, A Hansen (Den) 73 72 69 74, L De Jager (RSA) 74 71 76 67, S Bebb (Wal) 76 70 69 73, M Zions (Aus) 74 72 71 71,
289 N Fox (Irl) 75 71 71 72, A Haindl (RSA) 71 72 74 72, R Karlberg (Swe) 72 70 75 72, C Monasterio (Arg) 68 75 73 73, M Quiros (Esp) 75 69 73 72,
290 J Parry (Eng) 71 73 71 75, F Svanberg (Sui) 73 72 75 70, M Millar (Aus) 73 71 76 70, G Hutcheon (Sco) 68 70 75 77,
291 M Kramer (Ger) 68 74 74 75, N Turner (Irl) 72 73 72 74, R Treis (Ger) 72 73 75 71,
292 M McGeady (Irl) 74 66 73 79,
293 R Kilpatrick (Nir) 76 69 74 74, S Thornton (Irl) 74 70 72 77, R Santos (Por) 76 70 74 73,
294 C McNamara (Irl) 71 74 76 73, R Harris (Eng) 73 70 78 73,
295 J Moul (Eng) 77 68 76 74,
296 R Giles (Eng) 73 73 77 73, T Rice (Irl) 72 73 76 75,
297 J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 73 71 75 78,
298 L Kennedy (Eng) 72 73 77 76, M Tullo (Chi) 76 65 79 78, G Clark (Eng) 71 74 78 75,
300 M Durcan (am) (Irl) 75 68 78 79