Gough wins Lytham Trophy as Moran, McClean and Murphy finish in top 10
Castle's Robert Moran was hoping to become the first Irish winner since Paul Cutler in 2010 but a poor start to his third round proved crucial as he finished four shots behind England’s John Gough in the Lytham Trophy at Royal Lytham and St Annes.
Moran shot a pair of 68s to hold a one-shot lead over Gough on four-under at halfway but he turned in 40, following an early bogey with a triple-double run at the seventh and eighth en route to a third-round 75.
He closed with a 73 to finish fourth on four-over as the in-form Gough held off Scottish teenager Connor Graham, carding a 70 to the 15-year old’s 69 to win by a shot on level par 280.
According to Golf Bible:
Gough twice had to recover from setbacks in the final round to secure the title. His double-bogey 5 on the 5th hole saw him tumble out of the lead before a badly timed run of three bogeys on the 14th to 16th holes looked like it may be terminal.
Having dropped into a share of the lead with Connor Graham, safely in the clubhouse on +1, Gough was faced with parring in to force a play-off. At the time few would have bet on it with the wheels seemingly having come off his victory parade bus. To then birdie the 17th and par the 18th with the Trophy on the line showed just how much the BB&O golfer has matured in recent years.”
it was the fourth major win for Gough, whose father hails from Meath, following wins in the Palmetto Amateur, the English Amateur and the Spanish International Amateur in the last 12 months.
Malone's Matthew McClean (73-70) and Dundalk's Eoin Murphy (69-76) tied sixth on six-over with Richard Knightly 21st on 11-over after a closing 69 and Jack McDonnell 42nd after final day scores of 75 and 78.
Lytham Trophy, Royal Lytham & St Annes (Par 70)
1 John Gough E 67 70 73 70 280
2 Connor Graham +1 71 71 70 69 281
3 Ben Quinney +3 72 67 72 72 283
4 Robert Moran +4 68 68 75 73 284
5 Connor Rochon +5 70 70 73 72 285
T6 Kiet Van Der Weele +6 74 72 72 68 286
T6 Matthew McClean +6 66 77 73 70 286
T6 Eoin Murphy +6 68 73 69 76 286
T6 Will Coxon +6 69 72 74 71 286
T21 Richard Knightly +11 71 75 76 69 291
42 Jack McDonnell +18 72 73 75 78 298
