Tour round-up: Mehaffey fourth in South Africa after back-to-back 65s
Olivia Mehaffey. Picture: Tristan Jones/LET
Olivia Mehaffey clinched her best finish as a professional for 640 days when she closed with a second successive six under 65 to claim fourth place in the Platinum Ladies Open on the Sunshine Ladies Tour.
Playing with conditional status on the LET this year, the former Arizona State star made seven birdies at Blair Atholl Golf and Equestrian Estate to finish just four shots behind her playing partner, South Africa’s Kiera Floyd, who shot a blistering 11-under 60 to win by a shot.
“Yeah it was good,” said Mehaffey, who plans to play next week’s ABSA Ladies Invitational at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington before trying to pre-qualify for the LET’s Joburg Ladies Open.
“Nice to shoot two low scores back to back.”
Floyd made nine birdies and an eagle in a bogey-free, 11-under-par 60 to secure her maiden professional win by a shot from England’s Hayley Davis on 15-under.
“It’s so nice to have all the international players in the field,” Floyd said. “I played with Olivia Mehaffey today and I learnt so much from her – like how calm she is on the course.
“And if the European players make a drop, they just carry on. So, it is very nice and a good experience playing with them. Olivia said I made her round of six under par look terrible today!”
198 – Kiera Floyd 71 67 60
199 – Hayley Davis (ENG) 65 68 66
201 – Casandra Alexander 66 66 69
202 – Olivia Mehaffey (NIR) 72 65 65
203 – Emma Grechi (FRA) 69 67 67, Karoline Lund (NOR) 64 71 68, Fernanda Lira (MEX) 70 63 70
Patrick Reed in action at Macau Golf and Country Club. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
G-Mac 10 behind Reed in race for Open spot
Graeme McDowell faces an uphill task to win one of three spots in The Open on offer at the International Series Macau despite carding a five under 65 in round two.
He’s ten shots behind Patrick Reed, who shot a six-under-par 64 to lead by one from Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz, who shot a course-record 61 on 13-under.
Australians Lucas Herbert and Travis Smyth were two strokes further back 65s with Zimbabwean Kieran Vincent (65), Spain’s Sergio Garcia (66), and Filipino Miguel Tabuena (67) just four shots off the lead in the race for those three spots in The Open.
McDowell, who is seven shots outside third place, was five over for the tournament after three holes today before he made eight birdies, including four in his last five holes, to move up to 38th on three-over.
Annabel Wilson. Picture: Tristan Jones / LET
Big move for Annabel Wilson after 65 in Australia
Graeme McDowell wasn’t the only Northern Ireland golfer to shoot 65 on Friday.
Castlerock’s Annabel Wilson made seven birdies in a six-under 65 in the LET’s Ford Women’s Open in Australia to move up to 31st on two-under.
She’s ten shots behind England’s Mimi Rhodes and Czech Republic’s Sara Kouskova in Wollongong.
Rhodes shot a course record 62 and Kouskova a 63 to leave them three clear of Australia’s Kirsten Rudgeley on 12-under when play was suspended with ten players on the course.
Elm Park’s Anna Foster was the leading Irish player, nine shots off the pace in 19th after a 67.
Lauren Walsh was back in 47th on level par after three-putting four times for a 73.
Lukas Nemecz of Austria. Photo by Luke Walker/Getty Images
Liam Nolan and Alex Maguire cut in Delhi Challenge
Alex Maguire and Liam Nolan missed the three-under-par cut by a shot in the Delhi Challenge lead at Classic Golf & Country Club.
Maguire made four birdies and three bogeys in a 71 to finish 72nd on two-under alongside Nolan, who went out in four-over 40 but was unable to undo all the damage on the back nine and shot 74.
Austria’s Lukas Nemecz posted an eight under par 64 to claim a share of the lead at halfway alongside Sweden’s Jesper Sandborg, Frenchman Robin Sciot-Siegrist and Spain’s Quim Vidal on 11 under.
They lead by a shot from American Davis Bryant and Englishman Will Hopkins.
The next HotelPlanner Tour event is not until next month, when Al Zorah Golf & Yacht Club in Ajman hosts the UAE Challenge from April 10-13.
Robert Moran. Picture: Niall O’Shea
Wind reduces Alps Tour’s Tunisia Open to 36 holes
Robert Moran will lead the Irish challenge in the final round of the Tunisia Golf Open after officials opted to reduce the event to 36 holes due to high winds.
While the players who failed to complete their first rounds got to finish on Friday, officials opted not to play in the afternoon due to the wind with the second and final round now scheduled for Saturday.
Moran joined Michael Young and Ronan Mullarney in resuming his delayed first round at The Residence Golf Tunis on Friday morning.
He restarted on level par after three holes and carded an eagle, three birdies and four bogeys in his remaining 15 holes to post a one-under 71.
It left him tied for 13th, four strokes behind Italy’s Alessandro Nodari heading into Saturday.
Hugh Foley shot a one-over 73 in high winds on Thursday morning and starts the final day six shots off the lead in 22nd.
Young and Mullarney posted a two-over 74s to share 34th but with only the top 40 and ties qualifying for the final round, John Murphy finished seven shots outside the cut mark in 99th after his wind-lashed 81 on Thursday.
The Alps Tour will remain in Tunisia for next week’s 2025 La Cigale Golf Open by Alps Tour at La Cigale Tabarka Golf.
The circuit then takes five weeks off before the action moves to continental Europe for events in Italy, Austria and France in May. Schedule https://alpstourgolf.com/schedule
