O’hara pips Currie to land £10,000 prize in PGA Pros
On-form Paul O’hara recovered from a shaky start in the final round to overhaul compatriot Christopher Currie and claim the £10,000 top prize in the Titleist and Footjoy PGA Professional Championship at Luttrellstown Castle in Ireland.
Five birdies in six holes around the turn did the trick for O’hara as he landed the PGA’S flagship event at the first attempt, just over a week after the 30-year-old recorded a wire-to-wire win in the Northern Open at Lossiemouth.
“I’m very pleased with back-to-back wins,” admitted O’hara after signing off with a 70 for a three-underpar 285 total, one fewer than Currie after his closing 71. “I played well today after a bad start and the birdies won it for me.”
They came at the seventh, eighth, ninth, 11th and 12th for the North Lanarkshire Leisure-attached player as he responded positively to finding himself three behind Currie after six holes. “Chris was a couple under and I took a while to get going,” added O’hara. “But, once I holed a couple of putts for birdies, that it was it. After that, it was a case of going for two-putt pars.”
Caldwell-attached Currie, who picked up £6,000 for his week’s work, had no complaints about the outcome. “It wasn’t my best ball striking week, it was more a grind to be honest,” he admitted. “But it was a pleasing week and Paul is a worthy winner.”
Elsewhere, Ross Kellett is three shots off the halfway lead in the Challenge Tour’s Hauts de France Golf Open at Aa Saint Omer after backing up his opening 68, which included a hole-inone, with a 71. Joint overnight leader Grant Forrest is five off the pace after a 74.