Moynihan comes full circle: "It's probably the most nervous I have ever been"
Gavin Moynihan
It's not how you start but how you finish.
Just ask Mount Juliet’s Gavin Moynihan, who didn't make a cut on tour until June but ended his year with a bang by making a nerve-shredding five-footer to regain his European Tour card.
As his 2015 Walker Cup teammate Cormac Sharvin cruelly missed out by a shot after a tremendous comeback from a poor first 36 holes, Moynihan was the last man standing for Irish golf at the marathon Final Stage of the European Tour Qualifying School in Spain.
Struggling all week with a back injury, the 24-year-old from The Island bogeyed the 15th and 17th at Lumine Golf Club in Tarragona to go to last — a right to left par five with trouble lurking off the tee and water to carry with the approach — needing a par-five to finish among the crucial top-25 and ties.
In the end, it took one of the gutsiest putts of his life to get over the line for the second year running but he made what he reckoned was close to a five footer, carding a level-par 71 on the Lakes Course to tie for 20th on the 16-under par limit as 27 players earned cards.
"It was way worse than last year," said Moynihan, who had to birdie the 18th in 2017 to win his card for the first time.
Two under for the day and inside the top 25 with four holes to go, he was unnerved by those late bogeys but showed the kind of guts that gave him the GolfSixes title with Paul Dunne in May and a multiple amateur championships earler in his career, with his par at the last.
"I played lovely all day but I got a mud ball on 15 and it went way right and there was nothing I could do about it," Moynihan said. "Then on 17 I just hit a bad shot that came up short.
"But on 18, I hit a lovely drive and a rescue just short right of the green and I had a little flop shot. I thought it landed perfectly on the fringe but it semi-plugged and I had about a 20 footer through five feet of fringe and left myself four and a half or five feet for the par and I just got it in the hole.
"It was probably the most nervous I have ever been coming down the last two holes. It was tough and the last hole was tough. But I am delighted with it because I had one of the best ball-striking weeks but one of the worst putting weeks I have ever had, even though I've finished 16-under. I missed loads of putts.
"It was nice to somehow hole that putt. It was probably about half a ball outside the right and into the grain but I centred it. It's probably the most nervous I have ever been over a shot."
Moynihan missed so many cuts at the start of the season — 13 in a row (not including a retirement in the Czech Republic) and 14 from 15 — that he was forced to go to the Second Stage of the Qualifying School at Desert Springs.
He went there with a spring in his step after a confidence-boosting tie for eighth between the cork oaks in the Andalucia Valderrama Masters last month.
His driving had clearly clicked into place in the nick of time after finishing fourth at the Second Stage, shooting 15-under par, he knew he was ready
While is back went in the eve of the Final Stage, it eased gradually as the rounds wore on.
"For the back to hold up, especially the first two rounds, that was huge," said Moynihan, who feared he would not even be able to play at all. "The physio told me that if I could get through the first twos days, it would fix it up and he was right.
"When I shot 66 in that second round, that was great. I've had a great three or four weeks, to be honest.
"It was nice to play well today and hole a putt when I really needed to hole a putt. I just got it in the hole. It's probably the most nervous I have ever been over a shot.”
Reflecting on his year, Moynihan can see now that his high expectations did him little good and once he allowed himself some slack when he opted to concentrate on the Challenge Tour, things started to improve
"There was a period when I was getting annoyed with myself," he said." I don't know if iI just put too much pressure on myself but I went back to the Challenge Tour, I just accepted it, whether I shot four under or four over and tried not to get annoyed."
As for the future, he's only certain that he's a better player than he was 12 months ago.
"Even though my game hasn't been as good as last year, I am a better player now than I was last year. My driving was great this week, and that result in Valderrama gave me a great boost and then last week in Desert Springs was great too."
His 2015 Walker Cup teammate, Ardglass' Sharvin (26), was disappointed to miss out by one shot on 15-under after 69 but insisted he'd be back for more.
"I’m a little disappointed, but I’m happy with everything I gave every shot my full attention and commitment, and that’s all I can do," said Sharvin, who was tied for 132nd on one-over par after two round but then made 22 birdies over the next four days, carding rounds of 66, 68, 66 and 69 only to finish one shot shy on 15-under.
"It's just a shame it’s come up one short, but for me, it’s only a matter of time before I am competing with the best week in week out,
“It’s only a matter of time before I am competing with the best week in week out.”
Tramore's Robin Dawson (22) was happy to secure a full Challenge Tour card (and some limited European Tour status that could be worth "seven to nine starts") as he tied for 73rd on three-under after a 71.
"It's been a very positive year for me, and I've ticked a lot of boxes,” Dawson said. "I am very pleased to get a full Challenge Tour card because it means I can plan my year next year and hopefully I will be one step further along the following year."
He could be proud of his two-under 70 to make the cut on the Hills Course in the fourth round while his fifth round 74 killed his hopes of winning a European Tour card, he knows he's still got some work to do to be ready for the main tour.
"My long game is definitely good enough but I've noticed that you just can't be good enough from 130 yards in," said Dawson, who is pupil of Noel Fox.
"You just can't be good enough. It's the scoring clubs. You just have to break par every day you play. And you just have to make as many birdies as you can from 130 yards in.
"Yes, I was a little disappointed with round five but to get here is never an easy task so to make the cut, it means I at least have a Challenge Tour card for next year. That was the main goal.
"I was pleased to birdie 15 and 16 and par the last two to make the cut in the fourth round. It shows that I have the grit for it. I hit it great all week but I really struggled on the greens, which is not like me. I just had trouble reading them.
Spain's Alejandro Cañizares topped the qualifiers as he tied with South Africa's Zander Lombard on 24-under after a closing 64.
The duo were crowned joint winners with no play-off taking place.
On a day of high drama in Tarragona several players made big moves to secure their playing privileges on the European Tour for 2019. South Africa’s Louis de Jager was the first to seal his spot in the top 25 and ties, firing a bogey-free score of 66 to progress from Q-School for the first time in five attempts.
Also making late charges into the European Tour places were Italy’s Filippo Bergamaschi and Chile’s Hugo Leon. Bergamaschi birdied five of his closing eight holes to make the top 25 on the number, while Leon bagged his only birdie of the day on the 18th to also go through on the mark – which was 16 under par.
Three-time European Tour winner Marc Warren bounced back from a bogey on the 17th with a closing birdie to take the 19th card, while Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan – the only amateur to make the cut this year – also squeezed through after a final round of 72.
Former Amateur Champion Scott Gregory, who hit headlines for shooting 92 in the opening round of the U.S. Open five months ago, claimed the 12th card after coming through all three stages of Q-School this year – one of seven players to achieve the feat this season.
Alejandro Cañizares
“It was difficult for me, it’s been a weird two years coming over here and I couldn’t be happier. My future wife is pregnant and I’m going to be a father soon. There’s many good things happening at the moment.
“I’ve played in three Q-Schools now, it’s been a long time that has gone really quickly since I started on the Tour in 2006, and I knew my golf was there it just wasn’t happening the last two years. I had a couple of injuries, some personal things and golf wasn’t happening.
“And now, all those things are gone, and I can just play and focus on my game and get the confidence back hopefully. I’m over the moon.”
Zander Lombard
“It’s great having lost my card and now I’ve regained my rights its awesome. I shouldn’t have been here in the first place, but to come out strong and prove myself to be on the Tour it’s really amazing, I don’t have words for it right now.”
“I’ve usually had a lazy first half to the season but I’m going to try to do things differently this year and play as much as I can early in the year and try to get the numbers up early. I’m going to play four weeks on the trot and then four weeks back home at the beach with a few cocktails.”
Marc Warren
"It is the first time I have been in contention for a card and I really underestimated how tough it is.
“You have no idea what you need to do and you have try and keep moving forward while trying not to make mistakes at the same time.
"It's not a pleasant way to play golf but obviously there is a reward at the end of it."
Kristoffer Reitan
“It feels pretty good. It’s been my dream since I don’t know how old. I must say I’m really happy with that. It was a really difficult grind out there today but I managed to get it done in the end by working really, really hard.
“It was interesting to do it as an amateur. It was either making it to the European Tour or staying as an amateur. It was special because I’d either stay as an amateur for one more year or turn pro. It was a really drastic thing, the contrast between the two. It’s a dream come true, it really is.
“I’ve just got to keep on working hard. I’ve been playing pretty well throughout the three stages so I’m going to take a lot of positives into professional life.”
Scott Gregory
“It takes a lot out of you so I’m just over the moon. It makes up for a few of the things that I went through this year.
“I’m immensely proud of myself. I think I’d only been playing for a month after coming back from injury when I went to First Stage.
“It’s been a tough year with injury and I didn’t have my best day at the U.S. Open. I probably came under some unfair criticism so to do this not only proves it to myself but it proves it to them. It keeps a lot of people quiet.”
