McGee in the money in Turkey
Oliver Farr was emotional at the finish. Picture via European Challenge Tour
Rosapenna's Ruaidhri McGee was €3,325 happier after a closing 74 gave him solo 12th and his first cheque of the season in the Turkish Airlines Challenge.
The 23-year old finished on four over par at the National Golf Club in Antalya, just six shots behind an emotional Oliver Farr, who dedicated his maiden European Challenge Tour win to his late grandfather.
The Welshman produced a stunning birdie at the final hole to shoot 70 and claim a two-shot victory on two under par.
Gareth Shaw closed with a 73 to finish tied 39th on nine over with Dubliner Niall Kearney's 79 leaving him a shot further back in 44th.
Third round leader Jerome Lando Casanova could not maintain the momentum gained through three consecutive rounds of 71 and had to settle for a share of second place after a three over par 75.
He was joined on level par by Englishman Dave Coupland, who signed for a two over par 74, and Denmark’s Jeppe Huldahl, who moved into the all-important top 15 in the Rankings after a one over par round of 73.
“I'm ecstatic with the win,” said Farr, who won two of the last three events to win the satellite EuroPro Tour Order of Merit last year. “They were three of the best shots of my life (at the last). It was a fantastic wedge to five feet and it’s a putt you always want to win a tournament. It’s a great feeling."
Farr discovered on Tuesday that his grandfather had passed away and he was close to withdrawing in order to travel home. In the end, his win was a most fitting tribute and he admitted the emotion had spurred him on in the final day.
“It’s been a tough week for my family,” said the former Wales international amateur, who climbed 150 places to fifth in the Challenge Tour Rankings. “We lost my grandfather Malcolm on Tuesday and I wanted to go home but my parents forced me to stay, so it’s been a rollercoaster of emotions.
“I was trying to do it for him and my family, to give them something to smile about, so it’s a good feeling. He has inspired me this week to just keep going and it just puts golf into perspective.
“It was the first tournament where I felt really comfortable and then my grandfather died so it was just a strange feeling. But it’s great to win and I just have to keep going now because there is a lot of golf to be played this season.”
Results:
286 O Farr (Wal) 72 67 77 70,
288 J Lando Casanova (Fra) 71 71 71 75, J Huldahl (Den) 76 68 71 73, D Coupland (Eng) 71 70 73 74,
289 M Lampert (Ger) 74 72 71 72, B Åkesson (Swe) 71 71 73 74,
290 B Ritthammer (Ger) 78 66 75 71, N Quintarelli (Ita) 72 70 73 75, C Hanson (Eng) 74 71 72 73,
291 R Coles (Eng) 70 75 75 71, A Bernadet (Fra) 73 75 75 68,
292 R McGee (Irl) 73 73 72 74,
293 M Delpodio (Ita) 71 75 74 73, C Paisley (Eng) 69 73 74 77, B An (Kor) 70 72 75 76, E Espana (Fra) 72 71 78 72, T Linard (Fra) 74 74 74 71,
294 S Tiley (Eng) 75 71 75 73, C Bouniol (Fra) 77 71 72 74, M Orrin (Eng) 72 74 72 76, N Ravano (Ita) 75 68 73 78,
295 J Harrison (Eng) 71 71 75 78, B Hebert (Fra) 73 71 74 77, A Tadini (Ita) 73 73 78 71, A Snobeck (Fra) 75 74 71 75, R McEvoy (Eng) 72 72 72 79, M Rominger (Sui) 76 70 71 78, W Booth (Sco) 71 72 72 80,
296 L Goddard (Eng) 76 73 74 73, J Barnes (Eng) 73 75 74 74, L Corfield (Eng) 73 71 78 74, O Stark (Swe) 71 76 73 76, R Steiner (Aut) 73 73 75 75, A Johnston (Eng) 70 73 76 77, J Makitalo (Fin) 73 72 78 73, J Sjöholm (Swe) 75 74 70 77, S Arnold (Aus) 70 71 78 77, M Jonzon (Swe) 69 73 74 80,
297 P Edberg (Swe) 72 74 76 75, A Björk (Swe) 74 73 76 74, P Figueiredo (Por) 71 74 78 74, N Lemke (Swe) 74 71 75 77, G Shaw (Nir) 77 70 77 73,
298 S Little (Eng) 73 76 73 76, M Ford (Eng) 69 76 79 74, G Woolgar (Eng) 73 73 75 77, C Mivis (Bel) 74 75 76 73, M Wiegele (Aut) 71 78 75 74, N Kearney (Irl) 72 73 74 79, G Lockerbie (Eng) 73 71 77 77, P Widegren (Swe) 74 74 76 74,
299 N Kimsey (Eng) 72 75 75 77, K Samooja (Fin) 74 75 77 73,
300 L Nemecz (Aut) 73 75 77 75, A Marshall (Eng) 74 71 78 77, T Sluiter (Ned) 78 71 72 79,
301 J Fahrbring (Swe) 73 70 80 78, G Cambis (Fra) 68 72 79 82, L Jensen (Den) 74 75 76 76, J Lagergren (Swe) 71 74 77 79, B Chapellan (Fra) 72 75 78 76,
303 F Bergamaschi (Ita) 73 76 71 83,
306 W Besseling (Ned) 74 75 72 85.
