McGee finding his feet on the Challenge Tour
Rosapenna's Ruaidhri McGee clinched the first Top-10 of his Challenge Tour career when he fired his fourth successive round in the 60s to tie for seventh in the Kärnten Golf Open presented by Mazda in Austria.
The 23-year old Derry native closed with a four under 67 to finish just four shots behind Germany's Moritz Lampert on 15 under par at Golfclub Schloss Finkenstein near Villach.
Galgorm Castle's Gareth Shaw was tied 48th on seven under after a closing 71.
But it was McGee who took home the bigger cheque, making his sixth birdie of the day at the 18th to pocket €4,240 and move up to 49th in the Challenge Tour Rankings.
Lampert made seven birdies and one bogey in a 65 to win by a stroke on 19 under from playing partner Byeong-hun An with Italy’s Filippo Bergamaschi a shot further back in third position.
This latest success for Lampert, who won his first professional title earlier this year on the Pro Golf Tour, means the 22-year old will now have a full category on the Challenge Tour for the rest of the year.
It will allow the German to plan a proper schedule, and it also sees him jump to fifth on the Rankings, with the top 15 earning their place on The European Tour come the end of the season.
Having just received the trophy, and a rather large cheque for €25,600 at the presentation on the 18th green, Lampert was clearly over the moon with his success.
“This is pretty cool,” said the German, who represents Golf Club St Leon-Rot, part of The European Tour Properties network.
“My first round wasn’t that great, but since then I have played some really good golf, and for it to turn into a victory this week, well, I can’t put it into words. It is my first victory, which makes it special, because I have been playing on invites up until now and this just changes my whole schedule, my season, and my goals.
Irish positions in the Challenge Tour Rankings
49 Ruaidhri McGee IRL 4 €7,565
83 Kevin Phelan 2 €3,668
91 Niall Kearney IRL 3 €3,143
94 David HIGGINS IRL 3 €2,925
98 Gareth SHAW NIR 4 €2,885
106 Alan DUNBAR NIR 2 €2,320
Final scores:
265 M Lampert (Ger) 69 66 65 65,
266 B An (Kor) 67 69 64 66,
267 F Bergamaschi (Ita) 69 66 65 67,
268 C Bouniol (Fra) 69 67 63 69, J Roos (RSA) 67 69 66 66, F Fritsch (Ger) 65 69 66 68,
269 W Booth (Sco) 69 68 68 64, S Hutsby (Eng) 72 64 68 65, P Maddy (Eng) 65 68 67 69, R McGee (Irl) 68 65 69 67,
270 S Tiley (Eng) 72 65 64 69,
271 J Huldahl (Den) 73 60 66 72, N Quintarelli (Ita) 71 67 67 66, A Bernadet (Fra) 65 70 71 65, D Vancsik (Arg) 67 66 68 70, A Johnston (Eng) 67 65 68 71,
272 G Main (USA) 69 69 68 66, M Orrin (Eng) 64 74 67 67, C Lloyd (Eng) 68 67 71 66, T Murray (Eng) 64 70 68 70, B Hebert (Fra) 70 68 66 68,
273 B Virto (Esp) 68 66 66 73, L Goddard (Eng) 71 66 65 71, D Frittelli (RSA) 70 65 70 68, J Lando Casanova (Fra) 65 67 68 73,
274 J Barnes (Eng) 67 67 70 70, B Evans (Eng) 71 67 63 73, S Arnold (Aus) 66 67 70 71, O Floren (Swe) 70 68 71 65, E Espana (Fra) 67 67 75 65, L Gagli (Ita) 69 66 68 71, D Coupland (Eng) 67 66 73 68,
275 H Bacher (Aut) 66 67 72 70, O Wilson (Eng) 69 68 68 70, M Tullo (Chi) 71 67 66 71, L Jensen (Den) 71 65 72 67, A Engell (Nor) 69 67 72 67, J Garcia Del Moral (Esp) 69 65 70 71, R Enoch (Wal) 71 63 68 73, J Winther (Den) 67 71 70 67,
276 G Lockerbie (Eng) 67 69 67 73, D Law (Sco) 66 71 76 63, D Geminiani (Ita) 69 68 66 73, B Åkesson (Swe) 73 65 66 72, D Stewart (Sco) 67 70 70 69, M Glauert (Ger) 71 64 68 73, O Stark (Swe) 70 67 68 71,
277 D Gaunt (Eng) 68 70 67 72, R Steiner (Aut) 67 71 67 72, G Shaw (Nir) 68 66 72 71, C Russo (Fra) 69 67 71 70, G Woolgar (Eng) 66 70 67 74,
278 S Henry (Sco) 70 67 69 72, W Besseling (Ned) 71 64 69 74, J Robinson (Eng) 66 71 68 73, J Fahrbring (Swe) 67 69 72 70,
279 M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 68 70 70 71, S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) 67 67 70 75, M Novy (Cze) 72 66 74 67, L Nemecz (Aut) 67 71 68 73,
280 L Corfield (Eng) 66 72 72 70,
281 M Trappel (Aut) 69 68 69 75, J Lara (Esp) 68 69 70 74,
284 M Haastrup (Den) 71 67 76 70,
286 C Mivis (Bel) 69 69 72 76.
