Thornton bests Kilpatrick in Southern Championship playoff after 63s
L-R: Wesley Pappin, Secretary PGA Southern Branch, Rathsallagh GC captain, Paul Mullan, Simon Thornton and Rathsallagh GC Lady captain, Liz Matthews
Simon Thornton birdied the first playoff hole to edge out Banbridge’s Richard Kilpatrick and win the PGA Southern Championship at Rathsallagh on Wednesday.
On a day of low scoring at the Co.Wicklow venue, Tulfarris Golf Resort professional Thornton and Kilpatrick topped the leaderboard with a pair of nine under par 63s.
“To be fair I missed a few chances but obviously holed a few,” said Thornton.
“When I signed the card, well, to be honest, I kind of thought to myself I will just have to wait around here for the prize giving. And then 10 minutes later Richard comes in behind me with the same score!”
The PGA Southern Championship was originally penciled in for September 19th but the arrival of Storm Ali forced officials to postpone the tournament for a week.
The players made the most of the benign conditions that faced them on Wednesday with Thornton producing a round that included nine birdies and no bogeys while Kilpatrick dropped a shot at the first and responded with a 10 birdie barrage over his remaining 17 holes.
The leading duo headed to the par four 18th for the play-off with Thornton winning the coin toss and finding the fairway with his drive.
Kilpatrick's tee shot found the rough and he was forced to pitch back out on to the fairway with his second while Simon's approach to the green finished 15 feet from the pin.
Richard's third shot to the green left him with 20 feet for par and when he missed, Simon had two putts for the win but managed to slot the ball home for an emphatic birdie finish.
Headfort's Joe Dillon finished in third with Craddockstown’s Glen Robinson fourth and Glasson’s Colm Moriarty fifth.
PGA Southern Championship, Rathsallagh Golf Club (Par 72)
63 Simon Thornton (Tulfarris Golf Resort), Richard Kilpatrick (Banbridge GC)
Thornton won with birdie at first extra hole
64 Joe Dillon (Headfort GC)
65 Glen Robinson (Craddockstown GC)
66 Colm Moriarty (Glasson Hotel & GC)
67 David Higgins (Waterville Golf Links)
68 Jerry Scullion (J Scullion Golf)
