February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Bill Longmuir ran off to a four-stroke victory, with Darcy taking a piece of seventh position, while O’Sullivan joined a group in 11th. Darcy shot 205 (71-65-69), to finish eight strokes under par and nine behind Longmuir, while O’Sullivan came in with 206 (70-65-71). Eddie Polland also made the scene, placing 38th at 218 (72-76-70).
EUROPEAN TOUR
An Irish challenge never materialized in the Linde German Masters at Gut Larchenhof in Cologne, as Graeme McDowell and Damien McGrane were left to soldier on over the weekend in minor roles. McDowell settled in for a share of 40th place at 7-under-par 281 (71-70-70-70), with McGrane a stroke behind at 282 (71-70-70-71) in 42nd position. Retief Goosen added to his trophy collection after shooting the low number of 268.
Bidding early goodbyes by failing to shoot 142 or lower for 36 holes were Gary Murphy, 144 (70-74), Padraig Harrington, 144 (75-69), and Peter Lawrie, 146 (74-72).
CHALLENGE TOUR
Michael Hoey suffered a letdown the week after enjoying his first professional victory, missing the cut by one stroke in the Telia Challenge at Waxholm in Sweden. He shot 147 (73-74) to join Justin Kehoe, 153 (74-79), and Daniel Sugrue, 154 (76-78), on the sidelines. That left David P. Jones to carry on and he appeared to have a few tricks up his sleeve over the first two rounds, in which he was ensconced in the top 10 on the leaderboard. But the weekend proved his undoing, as he fell to 42nd place at tourney’s end, having finished two strokes over par at 294 (71-69-77-77). Morten Hagen was the champion after shooting co-low 280 and then winning the playoff.