McNulty wins in tour debut

That’s when the native Zimbabwean, competing with an Irish passport on American soil for the first time, earned his maiden victory both in this country and on the Champions Tour. McNulty, in his Tour debut, left one stroke to spare between himself and runnerup Larry Nelson in the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am at TPC at Tampa Bay in Florida. Another stroke behind Nelson was Fuzzy Zoeller, who scorched the course with an 11-under-par 61 in the final round.
McNulty finished 13-under-par at 200 (67-65-68). He endured a rocky patch on the front nine of his final round, when birdies on the fourth and seventh holes were followed by bogeys. Birdies on 12, 14 and 16 provided the cushion McNulty needed to forestall Nelson and Zoeller, especially when he bogeyed 18, a hole he birdied each of the two previous rounds. McNulty earned $241,000 for the win and can forget about having to qualify for next year.
McNulty, whose grandmother hailed from Ballymena, opted for Irish citizenship in December. Political instability in his native Zimbabwe left him fretful that the difficulties in replacing his passport, should it be lost or stolen, could leave him stranded in a foreign country for months while a replacement was procured.
Further down the leaderboard stood second-year men Des Smyth and Eamonn Darcy. Smyth tied for 46th place at 214 (69-73-72), while Darcy shared 64th position at 220 (79-69-72). Smyth pocketed $5,280, while Darcy was consoled with $2,080.

EUROPEAN TOUR
Paul McGinley shared 12th place in the Malaysian Open, an event co-sponsored with the Asian Tour. McGinley dropped out of contention at the Saujana Golf & Country Club in Kuala Lumpur with a third-round 74. He finished the tournament 6 under par at 282 (68-70-74-70). Padraig Harrington was barely a factor, sharing 37th position with three others. He posted 286 (69-74-71-72). Damien McGrane was among a trio at 51st place with scores of 289 (70-75-72-72 for McGrane). The victorious score of 274 belonged to Thongchai Jaidee.

PGA TOUR
Darren Clarke made an early exit from the Nissan Open at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles. At 150 (82-68), Clarke missed the cut by nine strokes.

NATIONWIDE TOUR
Richard Coughlan tied for 30th place in the Jacob?s Creek Open at Kooyonga Golf Club in Adelaide, Australia. The Offaly native shot three-over-par 287 (71-71-75-70). His upward mobility was hampered by bad spells on the front nine of his third round, when he picked up two bogeys and one double bogey, and the back nine of the final round, when he canceled an eagle on 9 with bogeys on 15 and 16. His earnings amounted to $5,063. Euan Walters, who shot 275, was a five-stroke winner.

SUNSHINE TOUR
Ciaran McMonagle got the hang of the Leopard Creek Country Club a little late, but his fine fourth round enabled him to ascend to a tie for 19th place in the Tour Championship in Malelane, South Africa. McMonagle finished with an even-par 288 (77-70-74-67), which was 15 strokes behind champion Andrew McLardy.

GOLDEN BEAR TOUR
P.J. Cowan tied for sixth place in the PLI Classic at the Estates Course of PGA National in Palm Beach, Fla. His 209 (69-71-69) left him six strokes behind the medallist, Rick Heath. Cowan pocketed $2,333.