Tom McKibbin saw his chances of contending for the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters dashed by two back-nine double bogeys in Spain.

Tied for 14th overnight, the Holywood rookie (20) turned in one-under-par at Real Club de Golf Sotogrande to keep his challenge intact.

But he found water right at the 207-yard 13th and made a double-bogey there for the second time in two days before following a birdie at the 14th with another double-bogey at the 16th, where he drove into a fairway bunker and took for to get down from 50 yards after a lay up.

It all added up to a two-over 74 for the Newtownabbey man, who slipped back tied 49th on three-under.

Denmark’s Jeff Winther and Germany’s Matti Schmid posted seven-under 65s to take a share of the lead on 14-under par, two strokes clear of defending champion Adrian Otaegui, who birdied the last two holes to shoot 69. 

“Lovely day, beautiful weather, good greens, what’s not to like?” Winther said. “I’ve found something the last couple of weeks, months, that’s working and I’m just sticking to it. I’m not trying to do anything that I’m not comfortable doing.”

On the LPGA Tour, Stephanie Meadow goes into the final round of the BMW Ladies Championship 12 strokes off the lead.

Undone by a second-round 78 at Seowon Hills, she bounced back from two early bogeys with three birdies in her last ten holes to card a one-under 71.

At level par, she was tied 52nd and 12 strokes behind South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai and Australia’s Minjee Lee, who led Kiwi Lydia Ko and American Alison Lee by one stroke on 12 under.

On the PGA Tour, Justin Suh’s three-under 67 gave him a one-shot lead over Eric Cole and Beau Hossler on nine-under-par heading into the final round of the ZOZO Championship in Japan.

Meanwhile, Ireland rallied on the final day to tie for eighth place behind runaway winners the United States in the World Amateur Team Championships in Abu Dhabi.

Laytown and Bettystown’s Alex Maguire shot a seven-under 65 and Malone’s Matt McClean a 69 as they jumped 11 spots on the leaderboard to finish alongside Czechia on 20-under, 16 shots adrift of the Americans.

While there is no official recognition for the individual standings, McClean tied for eighth place on 11-under, five strokes behind top finisher Kazuma Kobori of New Zealand with Maguire 36th on five-under and Galway’s Liam Nolan three shots further back in tied 50th after a closing 70.

The top 10 finished assured Ireland of a spot in the 2025 championship in Singapore, which pleased captain Niall MacSweeney, whose troops were 26th after a poor first day in sweltering heat at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

“Delighted to finish T8,” MacSweeney said. “A great overall team performance after a disappointing day one. Great to come from a position of T26 after day one to finishing T8 and securing Ireland’s place at the next World Amateur Team Championship.”

Golf Ireland reported:

The Irish team finished -20, a miraculous return after their slow start, which meant they were third for the final 54 holes and second to the US only, for the final 36 holes. 

“Delighted for Matt, showed great leadership all week and brought in scores when we needed it, and great individual performance from him this week,” said MacSweeney.

“And the other guys, Liam, counting yesterday and the day before and Alex obviously with a stunning 65 today. He was our first man out and he set the tone for the day, birdied the first three holes and kept that going, finished off holing a bunker shot for birdie on 17 and a two-putt birdie on 18.

“Everyone contributed to an overall great team performance. I want to acknowledge the support I received all week from team coach Michael Collins. And also the many many good wishes we received during the week from supporters at home.

“Disappointed that we don’t feature on the podium but finishing eighth in the world is no disgrace and Ireland can look forward to participating in Singapore.”

The USA surged to its 16th Eisenhower Trophy win and its first since 2014 thanks to three of its Walker Cup winning squad.

World amateur number five David Ford shot an eight-under 64 and reigning US Amateur champion Nick Dunlap a four-under 68 as 71 by world number two Gordon Sargent was discarded.

The USA won by 11 strokes on 36-under par from Norway and Australia with France a shot further back in fourth.

The USGA reported:

“I just feel so happy for these guys,” said USA Captain Mark Newell. “This is a great championship filled with lots of good players and they really earned their victory with great play all four rounds and especially today.”

On the strength of a red-hot Ford, who was 6-under through his opening six holes, the Americans quickly established an eight-shot cushion midway through the opening nine. Ford rattled off four consecutive birdies followed by an eagle hole-out from 140 yards on the par-4 sixth to kick-start his final round.

“I’ve never been 6-under through six before,” said Ford, who carded a 29 on the front side. “I didn’t look at the leaderboard until about hole 13. I wanted to see where we were and then I just tried to make as many birdies as I could coming in.”

Ford’s 64 is the second-lowest individual final-round score in World Amateur Team Championship history.

After struggling to get things going early on, Dunlap birdied six of his final 10 holes, leading to his 68, and Gordon Sargent, the low amateur in the 2023 U.S. Open, posted a non-counting 71 for the USA in the fourth round. Dunlap (2), Ford (T-5) and Sargent (T-5), who competed together on last month’s victorious USA Walker Cup team at St Andrews, all finished in the top 5 of the individual scoring.

"I love the fact that everybody contributed just about equally,” said Newell. “Every player had the best score at least one day and every player had the highest score at least one day. They all carried the team for stretches and they all ended up shooting about the same scores overall. A true team effort and exactly the kind that it takes to win this kind of event.”

The USA’s 72-hole hole score of 36-under-par 540 was 11 strokes better than the silver-medal winning Australia and Norway teams. The 11-shot victory was the largest championship margin since Australia’s 19-stroke win in 2016.

Australia used a strong finish by Jack Buchanan (4-under 68), who birdied four of his final five holes, and a counting score from Karl Vilips (2-under 70) to close at 25-under-par 551.

Norway’s silver is its first medal in the country’s 26 Eisenhower appearances. The Norwegians, whose previous best finish was fourth place in 2022, used a 3-under 69 from Herman Sekne and a 2-under 70 from Michael Mjaaseth for a team total of 551.

“Obviously, you want to win when you have a chance to, but this is the best that our country has ever finished, so that’s something to be proud of,” said Sekne, a senior at Purdue University. “Hopefully we’ll be back next time and win it.”

France finished in fourth place, one stroke behind Australia and Norway at 24-under 552. Italy, the 2022 champions, and New Zealand finished in a tie for fifth place at 553.

The USA receives custody of the Eisenhower Trophy until the next World Amateur Team Championship, which will be held in 2025 in Singapore. Members of the winning team receive gold medals and members of the two second-place teams receive silver medals.

Although there is no official recognition, New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori, the 2023 Western Amateur champion, was the low individual scorer at 16-under 272.
 

Quotable:

Gordon Sargent, USA: “I played last year [at the WATC in France] and obviously we didn’t finish the way we wanted to. That kind of stung standing there on the podium looking up at the guys who won, so it was nice to come here and get the job done. That flight home would not have been very fun if we had come in second.”

Nick Dunlap, USA: “About two months ago we were lifting the Walker Cup trophy and to do the same here is pretty special.”

David Ford, USA: “It feels sweet. We know each other really well. We all got to share in winning the Walker Cup so to represent our country well again here means the world.”

Captain Hans Aberg, Norway: “They’ve been very calm all week. No stress or nothing. They just went out and played a very impressive performance.”

Ahmad Skaik, United Arab Emirates: “It was a tough week for me. I’m disappointed in my play but a few positives from the week that I can take away. It was a great experience. It’s always an honor to play for the national team especially at home on such a big stage.”
 

Notable:

• The USA’s 12-under 132 is tied for the second-lowest final-round team score in championship history (since moving from three to two counting scores in 2002). Singapore also carded a 12-under-132 on Saturday.

• In 33 appearances, the Americans have won 28 total medals (16 gold, nine silver and three bronze).

• The USA is one of seven nations to participate in all 33 World Amateur Team Championships since 1958.

• David Ford’s 29 on the front nine tied the second-lowest nine-hole score in championship history, which has occurred six other times.  Denny McCarthy shot a 28 on the front nine during the final round of the USA’s Eisenhower Trophy win in 2014.

• Australia now has 14 medals, which remains second all-time behind the United States.

• Norway’s Michael Mjaaseth finished in a tie for eighth place in the individual scoring after he tied for ninth in 2022. He is the only player to finish in the top 10 both years.

• Czechia (T-8th) registered its best finish in a WATC after placing 22nd in 2018. 

• South Africa finished in seventh place for its first top-10 showing since 1998.

• Kazuma Kobori’s 16-under bested Nick Dunlap by one in the individual scoring. Kobori was the 2023 Elite Amateur Series champion. In addition to his Western Amateur victory this summer, Kobori added top-10 finishes in the Southern Amateur and Trans-Mississippi Amateur.
   

What’s Next:

The 30th Women’s World Amateur Team Championship for the Espirito Santo Trophy will take place beginning Wednesday at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

The 2025 World Amateur Team Championship for the Eisenhower Trophy will be held at Tenah Merah Country Club in Singapore.

Results from Saturday's final round of the 2023 World Amateur Team Championships, played at par-72 Abu Dhabi Golf Club (National Course), in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. 

Detailed scores

1      United States of America 135-137-136-132--540
        Nick Dunlap 69-67-69-68--273
        David Ford 68-74-69-64--275
        Gordon Sargent 67-70-67-71--275
T2     Norway 144-134-134-139--551
        Herman Sekne 73-64-68-69--274
        Michael Mjaaseth 71-70-66-70--277
        Mats Ege 75-77-71-70--293
T2     Australia 137-137-139-138--551
        Jeff Guan 68-69-68-72--277
        Karl Vilips 69-68-73-70--280
        Jack Buchanan 76-72-71-68--287
4      France 135-138-139-140--552
        Bastien Amat 68-70-67-69--274
        Hugo Le Goff 67-68-72-71--278
        Paul Beauvy 68-73-74-73--288
T5     New Zealand 139-139-139-136--553
        Kazuma Kobori 70-70-67-65--272
        Sam Jones 69-72-72-71--284
        Jayden Ford 74-69-73-72--288
T5     Italy 142-138-136-137--553
        Pietro Bovari 69-67-69-70--275
        Flavio Michetti 73-73-67-67--280
        Riccardo Fantinelli 74-71-70-71--286
7      South Africa 139-138-138-139--554
        Christo Lamprecht 71-68-68-70--277
        Christiaan Maas 70-70-71-69--280
        Altin van der Merwe 69-71-70-71--281
T8     Czechia 139-135-140-142--556
        Filip Jakubcik 69-67-70-71--277
        Petr Hruby 72-68-70-73--283
        Louis Klein 70-72-73-71--286
T8     Ireland 145-139-138-134--556
        Matthew McClean 72-68-68-69--277
        Alex Maguire 73-73-72-65--283
        Liam Nolan 75-71-70-70--286
10     Netherlands 136-140-139-142--557
        Jack Ingham 70-70-69-73--282
        Benjamin Reuter 66-71-76-71--284
        Lars van der Vight 77-70-70-71--288
T11    Denmark 137-138-143-142--560
        Jacob Olesen 68-71-71-71--281
        Frederik Kjettrup 75-67-72-71--285
        Gustav Frimodt 69-75-72-71--287
T11    Spain 138-140-142-140--560
        José Luis Ballester 69-72-68-69--278
        Luis Masaveu Roncal 69-70-74-71--284
        Angel Ayora 71-70-76-78--295
T11    Mexico 143-133-142-142--560
        Santiago De La Fuente del Valle 71-66-72-71--280
        Omar Morales 72-68-70-71--281
        José Islas Valdespino 75-67-74-75--291
14     Argentina 137-138-146-140--561
        Joaquín Ludueña 70-70-74-67--281
        Vicente Marzilio 69-68-72-75--284
        Segundo Oliva Pinto 68-72-76-73--289
T15    England 137-143-142-140--562
        Tyler Weaver 68-71-70-71--280
        Jack Bigham 72-72-72-69--285
        Barclay Brown 69-73-72-75--289
T15    Germany 141-141-145-135--562
        Jonas Baumgartner 71-70-70-69--280
        Tim Wiedemeyer 70-72-75-68--285
        Tiger Christensen 73-71-76-67--287
T17    Canada 146-142-136-139--563
        Brady McKinlay 72-72-68-69--281
        Ashton McCulloch 74-70-68-70--282
        Piercen Hunt 80-74-70-77--301
T17    Chinese Taipei 143-136-141-143--563
        Chuan-Tai Lin 72-66-72-72--282
        Ching Hung Su 71-70-72-75--288
        Chi Chun Chen 74-77-69-71--291
T17    Wales 142-139-141-141--563
        Tomi Bowen 70-71-70-71--282
        Matt Roberts 75-71-75-70--291
        James Ashfield 72-68-71-80--291
T17    Japan 142-140-141-140--563
        Yuta Sugiura 72-70-71-69--282
        Riura Matsui 75-70-73-71--289
        Minato Oshima 70-70-70-80--290
T21    Scotland 141-140-140-145--566
        Connor Graham 70-71-68-69--278
        Calum Scott 71-69-72-76--288
        Gregor Tait 78-79-72-76--305
T21    Switzerland 142-142-143-139--566
        Max Sturdza 70-68-71-73--282
        Nicola Gerhardsen 74-74-72-70--290
        Marc Keller 72-80-75-69--296
T21    People's Republic of China 138-135-144-149--566
        Justin Bai 69-68-73-76--286
        Zihang Qiu 69-67-71-83--290
        Ziqin Zhou 76-69-79-73--297
24     Morocco 141-142-143-141--567
        Soufiane Dahmane 69-69-72-75--285
        Hugo Mazen Trometter 72-74-71-70--287
        El Mehdi Fakori 75-73-73-71--292
T25    Colombia 142-139-138-149--568
        Nicolas Quintero 69-69-67-76--281
        Carlos Conde 73-72-71-75--291
        Manuel Merizalde 76-70-73-74--293
T25    Republic of Korea 144-142-135-147--568
        Seonghyeon An 73-70-65-75--283
        Donghyun Moon 71-72-70-72--285
        Sungho Lee 74-72-74-85--305
T27    Sweden 145-141-140-143--569
        Daniel Svard 70-71-73-71--285
        Tobias Jonsson 75-71-69-72--287
        Albert Hansson 79-70-71-73--293
T27    Guatemala 146-143-139-141--569
        Gabriel Palacios 72-70-73-70--285
        Juan Ricardo Davila 74-74-66-73--287
        Alejandro Villavicencio 82-73-73-71--299
T29    Austria 147-144-138-142--571
        Christoph Bleier 73-71-66-67--277
        Fabian Lang 78-73-72-75--298
        Florian Schweighofer 74-77-79-77--307
T29    Singapore 154-142-143-132--571
        Hiroshi Hirahara Tai 79-71-72-65--287
        Ryan Ang 78-71-71-67--287
        Troy Storm 76-78-75-74--303
T31    Finland 149-139-144-141--573
        Elias Haavisto 77-67-71-71--286
        Jesse Saareks 74-72-76-70--292
        Markus Luoma 75-75-73-79--302
T31    Thailand 149-145-141-138--573
        Ashita Piamkulvanich 74-70-70-66--280
        Parin Sarasmut 75-75-71-72--293
        Jiradech Chaowarat 75-77-73-77--302
33     India 150-142-148-142--582
        Yuvraj Singh 74-70-72-71--287
        Shaurya Bhattacharya 76-73-76-71--296
        Rohit Narwal 79-72-76-74--301
34     Zimbabwe 143-147-151-144--585
        Tafadzwa Nyamukondiwa 70-72-74-78--294
        David Amm 73-76-77-69--295
        Keegan James Shutt 82-75-78-75--310
35     United Arab Emirates 155-153-153-154--615
        Rayan Ahmed 79-79-75-77--310
        Ahmad Skaik 80-74-80-77--311
        Thomas Nesbitt 76-80-78-79--313
36     Guam 169-158-157-161--645
        Markus Nanpei 86-80-74-74--314
        Nalapon Vongjalorn 84-78-83-87--332
        Eugene Park 85-86-85-89--345