Ton up for McGrane

Joost Luiten. Picture by Getty Images.Damien McGrane haiuled himself into the top 100 in the Race to Dubai standings as Joost Luiten held off the challenge of Thomas Björn to claim his second European Tour title at the Lyoness Open powered by Greenfinity.

As McGrane closed with a 69, earning €14,400 and finish tied for 14th on eight under and move up to 98th in the money list, Luiten fired a one under par 70 in the final round at Diamond Country Club in Austria.

The 27 year old Dutchman began the round with a three shot lead and stayed clear all day, despite charges from Björn, who closed with a 68 to take second place two shots back from Luiten’s 17 under par total, and China’s Liang Wenchong, whose 66 gave him a share of third place alongside Frenchman Romain Wattel (69).

Luiten looked comfortable all week at Diamond Country Club in Austria, and even an hour’s suspension for thunderstorms late in the final round could not derail his march to the title.

“It’s a great feeling and it’s been a great week,” said Luiten, whose first win came in the 2011 Iskandar Johor Open. “It was a long day and I started with a three-putt for bogey. But I was hitting the ball really nicely and I was just trying to hit the greens and two-putt and let the others chase me.

“I made a few mistakes on the greens but after the birdie at the 16th I had a cushion and it was nice to finish with two pars to get the trophy.

“The break came at a good time because I wasn’t playing that well. I had some food and tried to refocus, and then went back out to try to make par and sneak in a couple of birdies, and that’s what I did.”

Miguel Angel Jiménez was in contention but struggled to a 75, while young Austrian amateur Matthias Schwab finished with a 69 for a share of 14th place, alongside another home favourite, Bernd Wiesberger, the 2012 champion.

Gareth Maybin (120th in the Race to Dubai)  finished joint 36th on four under after a 70 with David Higgins (188th in the money list) tied 47th on one-under after a 70.

FINAL SCORES:

271 J Luiten (Ned) 65 68 67 71,

273 T Björn (Den) 71 70 64 68,

274 L Wen-Chong (Chn) 67 72 69 66, R Wattel  (Fra) 68 68 69 69,

275 J Campillo (Esp) 70 67 66 72, P Waring  (Eng) 67 67 72 69,

276 E De La Riva  (Esp) 69 65 69 73,

277 G Bourdy (Fra) 70 68 70 69,

278 L Slattery (Eng) 71 68 70 69,

279 A Levy (Fra) 66 75 68 70, S Kapur (Ind) 68 72 71 68, G Storm  (Eng) 66 74 71 68, L Gagli  (Ita) 72 67 68 72,

280 H Otto (RSA) 71 65 71 73, C Lee (Sco) 70 73 68 69, B Wiesberger  (Aut) 68 71 72 69, D McGrane (Irl) 69 72 70 69, M Schwab (am) (Aut) 67 74 70 69,

281 F Andersson Hed (Swe) 74 67 70 70, S Hansen (Den) 70 72 68 71, M Carlsson  (Swe) 69 72 70 70, M Jiménez (Esp) 67 70 69 75, S Wakefield (Eng) 75 65 70 71, T Hatton (Eng) 74 69 66 72,

282 S Webster (Eng) 68 71 71 72, T Van Der Walt (RSA) 72 66 70 74, S Little (Eng) 69 73 66 74, S Dyson  (Eng) 66 74 69 73, M Baldwin (Eng) 71 66 71 74,

283 A Forsyth (Sco) 70 68 70 75, T Lewis (Eng) 63 74 71 75, C Paisley  (Eng) 69 72 70 72, T Levet (Fra) 73 70 70 70, M Lampert (Ger) 69 72 69 73, E Grillo (Arg) 72 67 71 73,

284 A Sullivan (Eng) 67 71 71 75, A Snobeck  (Fra) 70 71 72 71, M Tullo (Chi) 69 70 73 72, D Drysdale (Sco) 71 66 72 75, R Bland (Eng) 72 70 73 69, M Wiegele  (Aut) 73 71 67 73, G Maybin (Nir) 72 68 74 70,

285 B Dredge (Wal) 71 69 72 73, L Nemecz (Aut) 71 69 76 69,

286 M Korhonen (Fin) 72 72 71 71, G Bhullar (Ind) 72 67 72 75,

287 P Gustafsson (Swe) 71 73 67 76, J Hansen  (Den) 69 73 75 70, D Higgins (Irl) 71 72 74 70, R McEvoy  (Eng) 66 74 73 74, R Derksen (Ned) 74 70 72 71,

288 M Southgate  (Eng) 73 70 69 76, M Nixon (Eng) 69 71 74 74, G Stal  (Fra) 73 71 71 73, P Hedblom (Swe) 70 72 74 72, J Kingston (RSA) 72 69 72 75, S Dodd (Wal) 72 71 75 70,

289 O Floren  (Swe) 71 69 74 75, J Barnes (Eng) 68 72 76 73,

290 R Santos  (Por) 72 71 74 73, C Macaulay  (Sco) 68 66 75 81, M Lundberg (Swe) 71 73 73 73,

291 T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 72 70 73 76, I Garrido (Esp) 69 74 77 71, S Henry  (Sco) 75 66 77 73,

292 D Gaunt (Aus) 70 74 71 77, J Glennemo (Swe) 70 68 77 77, L Astl (Aut) 71 71 72 78,

293 C Cévaër (Fra) 74 68 79 72,

295 A Hartø  (Den) 73 71 75 76,

296 N Fasth (Swe) 75 68 74 79