Hoey 13th as McEvoy ends 13-year wait for victory
Richard McEvoy. Picture: Getty Images
Michael Hoey closed with a 69 to tie for 13th as former Irish Amateur Open winner Richard McEvoy claimed his second European Challenge Tour title at the SSE Scottish Hydro Challenge hosted by Macdonald Hotels & Resorts.
Hoey finished on seven-under par but he was nine strokes behind McEvoy of England, who carded a five-under-par 66 to triumph by four strokes from room-mate James Heath (64) on 16-under-par.
It was 38-year old McEvoy's first win since claimed the Panasonic Panama Open on the Challenge Tour in December 2004.
"I never stopped believing I could win again,” he said. “I’ve been playing a lot of good golf this year. I came really close to winning in Austria on the European Tour last month, so I came into this week in really good form.
"I kept my composure well all day. I got off to a great start again, I’ve played the front nine fantastically well this week, and I was five under through nine then six under through ten so I couldn’t have asked for a better start.
“I just kept on telling myself ‘I can’t get ahead of myself’. I played some really good golf coming in – I kept hitting fairways and greens – but the putts just wouldn’t drop. I did what I needed to do though so I am very happy.”
Gavin Moynihan closed with a 70 to finish tied 21st on five-under-par, falling one spot to 12th in the Race to Oman rankings which award European Tour cards to the top 15 money winners at the end of the season.
Dermot McElroy shot 70 to share 33rd on two-under with Derry's Ruaidhri McGee (73) tied 48th on one-over par and Old Conna's Neil O'Briain (77) tied 57th on three-over.
268 R McEvoy (Eng) 70 65 67 66,
272 J Heath (Eng) 72 65 71 64,
273 M Ford (Eng) 69 69 71 64,
274 M Lundberg (Swe) 67 65 71 71,
275 J Hansen (Den) 71 66 69 69, M Kinhult (Swe) 71 65 70 69, S Brown (Eng) 69 67 70 69, J Senior (Eng) 68 69 70 68,
276 M Tullo (Chi) 70 66 71 69, S Fernandez (Esp) 69 65 72 70, M Iten (Sui) 75 63 68 70, P Oriol (Esp) 67 68 72 69,
277 A Meronk (Pol) 71 68 69 69, E Van Rooyen (RSA) 68 69 68 72, J McLeary (Sco) 74 67 69 67, Michael Hoey (Nir) 68 66 74 69, M Lafeber (Ned) 70 69 69 69,
278 A Rai (Eng) 70 68 71 69, M Ovesen (Den) 74 66 69 69, E Goya (Arg) 71 68 72 67,
279 G Forrest (Sco) 74 68 72 65, Gavin Moynihan (Irl) 69 66 74 70,
280 M Lampert (Ger) 73 68 70 69, M Madsen (Den) 70 70 68 72, S Forsström (Swe) 71 67 70 72, D Van Driel (Ned) 72 71 67 70, C Griffiths (Eng) 72 67 71 70, F Laporta (Ita) 74 67 69 70, R Saxton (Ned) 75 66 68 71,
281 J Girrbach (Sui) 71 69 71 70, J Doherty (Sco) 70 70 74 67, V Perez (Fra) 71 70 72 68,
282 A Wennstam (Swe) 72 71 71 68, J McDonald (Sco) 72 66 70 74, Dermot McElroy (Nir) 67 71 74 70, J Dantorp (Swe) 69 69 70 74, B Hafthorsson (Isl) 73 69 69 71, L Canter (Eng) 71 72 69 70, B Eccles (Aus) 73 68 72 69, R James (Wal) 65 68 73 76, R McCarthy (Aus) 75 66 68 73,
283 N Cullen (Aus) 71 67 72 73, M Nixon (Eng) 73 67 70 73, J Brun (Fra) 75 68 71 69, N Johansson (Swe) 72 68 72 71,
284 V Riu (Fra) 69 71 73 71, L Gagli (Ita) 73 66 74 71,
285 N Geyger (Chi) 75 68 69 73, Ruaidhri McGee (Irl) 73 69 70 73, P Widegren (Swe) 74 67 73 71, D Kay (Sco) 74 68 76 67,
286 A Connelly (Can) 72 70 71 73, E Cuartero Blanco (Esp) 76 67 71 72, M Schwab (Aut) 73 70 72 71, C Koepka (USA) 74 68 71 73, M Haastrup (Den) 73 70 72 71,
287 N Møller (Den) 71 66 76 74, Neil O'Briain (Irl) 73 67 70 77, M Orrin (Eng) 72 69 72 74,
288 S Soderberg (Swe) 75 68 67 78, O Farr (Wal) 72 71 71 74, J Ross (Sco) 74 68 73 73, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 70 71 72 75,
289 K Samooja (Fin) 72 70 77 70, C Ford (Eng) 69 72 75 73, S Henry (Sco) 73 70 74 72,
290 J Sarasti (Esp) 74 69 72 75,
291 D Fox (Aus) 73 70 77 71,
292 M Wiegele (Aut) 74 69 74 75,
