Matteo Manassero ends the Irish Open on the podium
Matteo Manassero third
Great performance by Matteo Manassero, third with 277 (70 66 72 69, -7) strokes who, in an exciting final round, è was in the running for the title until the last few rounds of the Amgen Irish Open, a DP World Tour tournament won with 275 (71 68 71 65, -9) by Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard.
On the course at Royal County Down GC (par 71) in Newcastle, Northern Ireland, Hojgaard, the 23-year-old from Billund and twin brother of Nicolai, began his progression from the ninth hole (after a birdie and a bogey) and with seven birdies, including three to close, against one bogey (65, -6), he made his comeback by overtaking Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, who had moved into the lead in the third round, with Manassero a stroke behind. The world number three, who seemed on course for success, made two decisive errors (bogey at 15ª and 17ª) leaving way for his opponent with a partial 69 (-2, five birdies, three bogeys) for a total of 276 (-8) valid only for second place.
Rasmus Hojgaard signed his fifth title on the circuit, where he hadn’t won since last year (Made in HimmerLand in August), at the 105ª event on the tour and received a check for $1,020,000 out of a $6,000,000 prize pool.
Matteo Manassero shot a partial score of 69 (-2). After a difficult start (one birdie and two bogeys in four holes) he then recovered with three birdies, the last of which at the 18thª allowed him to remain alone in third place. In the Race To Dubai (order of merit) è he is back to being the first of the Italians (9°) and canò definitely aim for the ‘card’ for the next PGA Tour that will be awarded to the top 15 in the ranking.
Finishing in fourth place with 278 (-6) were England’s Daniel Brown, fifth with 280 (-4) were Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre and Grant Forrest, seventh with 281 (-3) were England’s Jordan Smith and USA’s Jimmy Walker, and ninth with 282 (-2) were Canada’s Aaron Cockerill and Finland’s Sami Valimaki.
Of the other Italians Filippo Celli è finished 30° with 286 (68 72 74, +2), losing ground in the final round after three good rounds. Further back were Andrea Pavan, 42° with 288 (73 70 72 73, +4), and Renato Paratore, 45° with 289 (71 73 72 73, +5). Exiting at the cut were Francesco Laporta, 69° with 145 (+3), Lorenzo Scalise, 81° with 146 (+4), and Edoardo Molinari, 137° with 151 (+9).
Next up is the prestigious BMW PGA Championship, a Rolex Series event scheduled Sept. 19-22 at the Wentworth Club at Virginia Water in England.
