McElroy tied 15th in Carlow; McGovern 26th in Paris; O'Driscoll 34th in Belgium

Bernd Bitthammer. Picture: Getty Images

Dermot McElroy caressed a top 10 finished before three bogeys in his last six holes force him to settle for a share of 15th behind Bernd Ritthammer in the Volopa Irish Challenge hosted by Mount Wolseley Hotel, Spa and Golf Resort.

McElroy carded a two over 74 to finish on level par and while he will be disappointed he let some shots get away coming home, a cheque for €2,352 can only boost his confidence ahead of the First Stage of the European Tour Qualifying School later this month.

Cormac Sharvin (73) shared 33rd spot on three over with Chris Selfridge (77) 51st on nine over and Old Conna's Neil O'Briain (72) 56th on 11 over.

Ritthammer 29, over bogeys on two of his first three holes to shoot 70 and win by five shot from England's Sam Walker and Marcus Armitage on 10 under and go top of the Road to Oman standings.

“It is an amazing feeling,” he said. “I was prepared for a tough day and I knew I was going to be nervous. I was kind of prepared for things to be difficult and rough at the beginning and when you start with two bogeys like that you have to be careful as your score can just balloon.

“But I am happy that I managed to follow my game plan and stay relaxed. My caddie Steve really helped me today as he kept talking to me and that reassured me while I was out there."

Results

• Final scores: 278 B Ritthammer (Ger) 72 70 66 70; 283 M Armitage (Eng) 75 69 71 68, S Walker (Eng) 66 75 69 73; 285 M Ovesen (Den) 72 72 71 70, S Jeppesen  (Swe) 70 78 69 68, M Delpodio  (Ita) 73 72 67 73, A Karlsson  (Swe) 79 68 67 71
• Irish: 288 D McElroy (Nir) 74 71 69 74; 291 C Sharvin (Nir) 71 77 70 73; 297 C Selfridge  (Nir) 74 74 72 77; 299 N O'Briain (Irl) 74 72 81 72,
• MC J Hopkins (Irl) 75 74, C Campbell Jnr (am) (Irl) 72 77; 151  K Phelan (Irl) 75 76, R McNamara  (Irl) 70 81; 152 M McGeady (Irl) 79 73; 153 R McGee (Irl) 74 79; 154 J Hume (am) (Irl) 76 78; 155 G Moynihan (Irl) 74 81,  G Hurley (Irl) 78 77, S Grehan (am) (Irl) 76 79; 157 B Casey  (Irl) 78 79; 158 A Dunbar (Nir) 79 79, G Shaw (Nir) 77 81; 165 R Bridges (Irl) 76 89; 169 C Boggan (Irl) 90 79; DQ R O'Donovan (Irl) 87 DQ, C O'Rourke (am) (Irl) 76 DQ.

Magnus P Atlevi

McGovern leads Irish in Paris

Sweden's Magnus P Atlevi secured a maiden European Senior Tour title at the inaugural Paris Legends Championship as he carded a two under par final round of 69 to win by two strokes.

He finished on eight under par 205 with Brendan McGovern (73) the best of the Irish in joint 26th on four over, picking up €3,336. Results

205 M Atlevi (Swe) 70 66 69, 207 M Mouland (Wal) 64 71 72, P Golding (Eng) 67 71 69, S Dodd (Wal) 74 66 67, 208 J Kingston (RSA) 72 65 71, 210 G Wolstenholme (Eng) 69 72 69, P Fowler (Aus) 70 69 71, S Brown (Eng) 73 68 69. Irish — 217 B McGovern (Irl) 72 72 73, 222 P Walton (Irl) 74 74 74, 230 D Smyth (Irl) 78 75 77.

O'Driscoll in the pack in Belgium

Tommy O'Driscoll closed with a one over 73 to share 34th on level par in the Citadelle Trophy International at Golf Château de Preisch on the France-Belgium border.

Italy's Federico Maccario (71) edged out France's Alexandre Daydou (69) and compatriot
Niccolò Quintarelli (71) in a playoff to take the €6,960 top prize with O'Driscoll winning €561. Results

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