Moriarty seals first top 20

Gary Stal confirmed his status as one of the hottest prospects in European golf after the 20 year old Frenchman claimed his second Challenge Tour title in as many months at the Credit Suisse Challenge, beating compatriot Alexandre Kaleka in a play-off. Photo credit: Maria Schmid/freshfocusColm Moriarty recorded his first top 20 finish of the Challenge Tour season after a level par 71 left him tied 19th spot in the Credit Suisse Challenge, eight shots behind eventual winner Gary Stal, writes the European Challenge Tour.

It was a roller-coaster round for the Athlone man after he began disastrously with a double bogey six at the first hole, but he battled back to a one under par front nine thanks to birdies at the fourth, fifth and ninth.

His back nine began just as his front nine did with a double at the par four tenth hole knocking him back to one over for the day before he followed that up with a bogey at the 11th.

Back to back birdies at the 15th and 16th holes, however, moved him back into the top 20 on three under and earned the 33 year old his best finish of the season.

Meanwhile, Gary Stal confirmed his status as one of the hottest prospects in European golf after the 20 year old Frenchman claimed his second Challenge Tour title in as many months, beating compatriot Alexandre Kaleka in a play-off.

In a dramatic finale at Golf Sempachersee, outside Lucerne, Kaleka made a late charge thanks to three birdies on the back nine in windy conditions and his par on the 18th meant Stal needed a birdie to win in regular play.

The young man from Lyon left himself with a difficult putt for par, after his approach short at the front of the green and his birdie putt stopped six feet from the hole, but he showed nerves of steel to sink it and finish on 11 under par, tied with Kaleka.

He topped that off by showing true grit on the first play-off hole. After his second shot landed short of the second tier upon which the pin was placed, Stal left himself an extremely tough putt to win. But, following Kaleka’s missed birdie chance, he rolled it over the ridge and straight into the centre of the cup to rapturous cheers from the watching crowds.

Results:

Gary Stal won in play off (3/4)

273 G Stal (Fra) 69 67 67 70, A Kaleka (Fra) 70 65 70 68,
275 A Perrino (Ita) 69 66 68 72,
276 A Hartø (Den) 69 70 69 68, J Mommo (Fin) 69 65 69 73,
277 L Goddard (Eng) 71 64 70 72,
278 A Domingo (Esp) 68 68 70 72,
279 D Vancsik (Arg) 68 70 72 69, R Steiner (Aut) 68 71 72 68, B Chapellan (Fra) 70 69 70 70, N Bertasio (Ita) 71 70 69 69, D Brooks (Eng) 69 69 70 71, B Parker (Eng) 70 68 70 71,
280 J Busby (Eng) 69 67 72 72, D Gaunt (Aus) 69 69 71 71, G Houston (Wal) 69 65 72 74, C Doak (Sco) 70 70 73 67, S Tiley (Eng) 67 72 69 72,
281 V Riu (Fra) 70 70 73 68, R Kakko (Fin) 74 63 72 72, J Hansen (Den) 62 74 72 73, C Moriarty (Irl) 67 70 73 71,
282 D Ulrich (Sui) 68 71 70 73, O Wilson (Eng) 66 74 70 72, A Levy (Fra) 67 73 71 71, L Jensen (Den) 66 71 74 71,
283 A Gee (Eng) 72 67 74 70, M Rominger (Sui) 69 68 73 73, S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) 70 70 71 72, B Koepka (USA) 71 70 73 69, A Snobeck (Fra) 67 72 73 71, M Carlsson (Swe) 70 70 73 70, C Hanson (Eng) 68 69 73 73, S Pinckney (USA) 69 70 73 71,
284 M Delpodio (Ita) 71 68 75 70, C Macaulay (Sco) 69 71 72 72,
285 M Haines (Eng) 73 68 71 73, J Gibb (Eng) 69 69 71 76, J McLeary (Sco) 68 69 70 78, M Madsen (Den) 71 70 74 70, J Heath (Eng) 69 70 74 72, A Bernadet (Fra) 72 69 75 69,
286 J Clément (Sui) 69 69 75 73, A Tadini (Ita) 70 70 73 73,
287 J Wahlqvist (Swe) 68 73 74 72, M Kieffer (Ger) 72 69 71 75, H Joannes (Bel) 67 71 71 78,
288 N Meitinger (Ger) 69 72 75 72, A Velasco (Esp) 72 67 77 72, S Benson (Eng) 73 68 75 72, M Nixon (Eng) 72 68 76 72,
289 A McArthur (Sco) 69 71 75 74, P Archer (Eng) 68 70 75 76,
290 P Baker (Eng) 72 68 76 74, B Evans (Eng) 70 71 77 72,
291 B Rusch (am) (Sui) 69 70 80 72,
292 M Bothma (RSA) 71 70 80 71, S Davis (Eng) 71 68 78 75, S Wakefield (Eng) 67 70 81 74,
294 J Mikkelsen (Nor) 69 71 77 77,
296 B Etchart (Esp) 73 68 77 78,
142 D Lokke (Den) 69 73 0 0, J Abbott (Eng) 69 73 0 0, W Besseling (Ned) 74 68 0 0, J Bragulat (Esp) 72 70 0 0, E De La Riva (Esp) 69 73 0 0, R Russell (Sco) 74 68 0 0, F Fritsch (Ger) 69 73 0 0, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 72 70 0 0, N Dougherty (Eng) 71 71 0 0, M Ford (Eng) 66 76 0 0, N Lemke (Swe) 70 72 0 0, T Remkes (Ned) 71 71 0 0, F De Vries (Ned) 74 68 0 0, R Dinwiddie (Eng) 74 68 0 0, D Geminiani (Ita) 71 71 0 0, C Aguilar (Esp) 70 72 0 0, C Blaesi (Sui) 70 72 0 0, B Ritthammer (Ger) 71 71 0 0,

143 J Rask (Swe) 75 68 0 0, F Praegant (Aut) 71 72 0 0, F Delamontagne (Fra) 73 70 0 0, N Sulzer (Sui) 70 73 0 0, Å Nilsson (Swe) 69 74 0 0, S Franky (Col) 75 68 0 0, K Benz (Sui) 71 72 0 0, E Bertheussen (Nor) 70 73 0 0, R Echenique (Arg) 75 68 0 0, E Kofstad (Nor) 72 71 0 0, P Edberg (Swe) 71 72 0 0, S Grant (Irl) 70 73 0 0, A Tampion (Aus) 72 71 0 0, J Walters (RSA) 70 73 0 0, M Brown (Nzl) 73 70 0 0, J Barnes (Eng) 74 69 0 0,
144 S Buhl (Ger) 71 73 0 0, M Glauert (Ger) 71 73 0 0, I Elvira (Esp) 73 71 0 0, C Brazillier (Fra) 75 69 0 0, N Ravano (Ita) 70 74 0 0, P Fendt (Aut) 72 72 0 0, F Calmels (Fra) 76 68 0 0, B Pastore (Ita) 75 69 0 0, P Relecom (Bel) 71 73 0 0, M Dobias (am) (Sui) 75 69 0 0,
145 M Cryer (Eng) 74 71 0 0, B Åkesson (Swe) 71 74 0 0, P Karantzias (Gre) 72 73 0 0, J Parry (Eng) 71 74 0 0, F Svanberg (Sui) 73 72 0 0, S Jeppesen (Swe) 73 72 0 0, A Maestroni (Ita) 70 75 0 0, R Quiros (Esp) 72 73 0 0, J Schmid (Sui) 73 72 0 0, P Gustafsson (Swe) 70 75 0 0, A Knappe (Ger) 71 74 0 0, E Amacher (am) (Sui) 73 72 0 0,
146 H Bacher (Aut) 73 73 0 0, G Lockerbie (Eng) 74 72 0 0, S Henry (Sco) 74 72 0 0, R Harrison (Eng) 74 72 0 0, B Barham (Eng) 73 73 0 0, J Doherty (Sco) 77 69 0 0, J Burnier (Sui) 75 71 0 0,
147 E Pepperell (Eng) 75 72 0 0, G Watremez (Bel) 73 74 0 0, A Ahokas (Fin) 73 74 0 0, J Girrbach (am) (Sui) 72 75 0 0,
148 P Dwyer (Eng) 76 72 0 0, R De Sousa (Sui) 73 75 0 0, R McGowan (Eng) 74 74 0 0, J Lima (Por) 73 75 0 0, G Dear (Sco) 77 71 0 0, T Hatton (Eng) 77 71 0 0,
149 M Crespi (Ita) 75 74 0 0, C Gane (Eng) 75 74 0 0, M Iten (am) (Sui) 74 75 0 0,
150 C Russo (Fra) 74 76 0 0, A Parr (Can) 75 75 0 0, J Huldahl (Den) 75 75 0 0, J Dantorp (Swe) 78 72 0 0, A Hortal (Esp) 73 77 0 0,
151 J Kaske (Fin) 74 77 0 0, N D’Incau (Sui) 76 75 0 0,
152 R Wiederkehr (Sui) 77 75 0 0, F McGuirk (Eng) 73 79 0 0, J Maurer (Aut) 75 77 0 0, P Erofejeff (Fin) 76 76 0 0, M Eggenberger (am) (Sui) 79 73 0 0,
153 J Johnson (Eng) 76 77 0 0, I Giner (Esp) 75 78 0 0,
154 D McKenzie (Aus) 76 78 0 0,
155 M Higley (Eng) 74 81 0 0, P Gal (Cze) 77 78 0 0,
160 U Weinhandl (Aut) 76 84 0 0,
175 J Svoboda (Cze) 91 84 0 0,