Paul Gallagher at the K-Club
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. That was the role befitting Phillip Price at the K-Club this afternoon as he fended-off all challengers to win the European Open in a nerve-wracking finale.
Price, one of last year's Ryder Cup heroes, needed to birdie the par five 18th to avoid a play-off with Zimbabwean veteran Mark McNulty (68) and Scotland's Alistair Forsyth (68), who had just eagled the last. And that's exactly what he did.
Price put pressure on himself by missing a short putt at the 17th, allowing his two nearest challengers to level with him on 15 under before he had stepped onto the 18th tee. A play-off looked a real possibility.
However, the conqueror of the then world number two, Phil Mickelson, in the Ryder Cup singles, hit a bold four-iron to the back of the 18th green from 225yards and then proceeded to get up and down to secure his third European title - he won the Portuguese Open in 1994 and 2001.
"I'm absolutely delighted, this is a major event to win," beamed the modest Welshman whose wire-to-wire win with a 16-under 272 total earned him a whopping 481,245 winner's cheque. "It's a great feeling being able to prove I can get the job done."
The outcome of the final day was never clear-cut as a number of scenarios ensued before panning out. Darren Clarke's charge was a good case in point. The Dungannon golfer had cancelled his three shot deficit to join Price for the lead after just four holes with a birdie at the second and an eagle at the fourth.
However, visits to the water on the sixth, seventh and another on the 17th, quashed any hopes he had of repeating his 2001 victory. On this occasion it wasn't the putter causing problems but his iron play after a two-week lay-off.
"My driving was great, my iron play was abysmal. That was basically the story of my week. As much as I worked on the range I couldn't get the ball on the club face for the flights I wanted. And on this golf course you can't hide," said Clarke who rounded off his closing 71 for a 12 under aggregate with an eagle.
"Again it was another poor shot into the last, I was only hitting seven-iron and I still left it so far away," he said after holing the 60-foot putt from the front edge of the green. Clarke now intends to go off and do some serious work, like many players, ahead of the Open at Royal St George's in a fortnight.
Some sympathy must be felt for Price's playing partner, Angel Cabrera, in the final group. The Argentine played himself into contention after reaching the 15th in three under. From there he hit the self-destruct button and finishing with a bogey, bogey, bogey, double bogey combination to drop back to nine under with a 74.
Closer to home, Gary Murphy closed with a battling level par 72 for a three under 285 aggregate, which was good enough for a top 30 finish. However, despite a brave up-and-down from the bunker at the last for birdie, Murphy was frustrated, not with the way he is currently playing, but how he has been letting good positions slip in tournaments.
"It was a frustrating day for me out there. I wanted to get off to a good start, which I did with a birdie at the first but after that it just didn't happen for me on the front nine," remarked the 30-year-old who desperately wants to string four good rounds together.
His downfall this week came on the Friday where he signed for a 75 with a careless double-bogey at the last. The fact that he opened with 67 made the blow all the worse for the Kilkenny golfer.
"If I'd shot 70 on Friday I would have been looking at a top 10 instead of the top 30 finish," said the man who has made 11 out of 15 cuts this season. "That said, if I pick up £20,000 per event for the rest of the season I'll be doing okay," he joked. Murphy will now focus on securing a place at the Open by trying to qualify out of Baltray.
Of the early Irish starters, K-Club touring pro Paul McGinley, fared the best by returning a level par 72 to finish one under for the tournament. Damien McGrane closed with a one over 73 and dropped back to three over, the same tally as the pre-tournament favourite Padraig Harrington, whose closing 72 capped off a disappointing week.
"Now it's time to get ready for the Open, work on my game, whatever needs to be done," said the world number eight who is looking to regain the strong mental focus, which is very much part of his make-up. "There's no element of my game that I'm absolutely happy with, at the moment so I will apply myself over the next 10 days."
That means, instead of competing at Loch Lomond next week, Harrington will take the opportunity to practice some links golf at the likes of the European Club and Portmarnock. Elsewhere, it was a disappointing finish for Graeme McDowell, whose 76 left him on three over. Afterwards the Ulsterman talked of his plans in the run up to the Open.
"I'll take a day off tomorrow before heading over to Loch Lomond. That's how I plan to qualify for the Open by finishing in the top seven. If I don't achieve that then the last resort is to go to the qualifying."