Rafferty tied seventh as Singh Brar wins Lytham

CAOLAN RAFFERTY took another small step towards a potential international call-up this year when he finished tied for seventh in the Lytham Trophy at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

A quarter-finalist in the recent West of Ireland Championship and one of the most consistent players over the last year, the Dundalk man was one of just three Irishmen to make the cut in Lancashire.

He finished an excellent week by adding rounds of 75 and 73 to opening efforts of 76 and 71 to finish seven behind winner Jack Singh Brar on 15-over par.

Singh Brar opened with an incredible 68 and added rounds of 73, 72 and 75 to finish two ahead of countryman Charlie Strickland with Jack Burnage third on 11 over.

Portmarnock’s Geoff Lenehan was 35th on 24-over par after closing rounds of 78 and 76 while Massereene’s Tiarnan McLarnon, the only Irish international to make the cut, added rounds of 80 and 75 on Sunday to finish 40th on 306, 26-over par.

Singh Brar, Strickland, Brunage and Rafferty are all in the field for the Flogas Irish Amateur Open, which begins at Royal County Down today.

Lytham Trophy, Royal Lytham & St Annes (Par 70):

288 J Singh-Brar (Remedy Oak) 68 73 72 75; 290 C Strickland (Ham Manor Golf) 73 73 71 73; 291 J Burnage (Saunton) 76 71 72 72. Irish: 295 C Rafferty (Dundalk) 76 71 75 73; 304 G Lenehan (Portmarnock) 76 76 78 74; 306 T McLarnon (Massereene) 78 73 80 75. Other Irish, Missed cut (152): 153 J Pierse (Portmarnock) 79 74, S Grehan (Tullamore) 79 74, E Smith (Laytown & Bettystown) 74 79; 154 A Gleeson (Castle) 82 72, J Yates (Naas) 81 73, K LeBlanc (The Island) 79 75, T Mulligan (Laytown & Bettystown) 77 77; 155 M Power (Kilkenny) 84 71; 156 C Campbell (Warrenpoint) 79 77; 157 C O’Rourke (Naas) 79 78, C Fairweather (Knock) 79 78; 158 J-R Galbraith (Whitehead) 82 76, J Whelan (Newlands) 81 77; 159 R Dawson (Tramore) 83 76, E Griffin (Waterford) 81 78; 172 J Murphy (Kinsale) 85 87.