It would be fair to say that Simon Ward was less than pleased to finish third in the Gecko Pro Tour event at El Parador de Malaga.

The Carrickmacross man opened with a 66 which counted for nothing as fog prevented any second round play at one of the two courses used for this 54 hole event.

Rather than irritate players who might have played the tougher or easier of the two courses, the organisers decided to go by their rulebook and cancelled round two, picked the top 15 and ties at each course and then wiped out all the round one scores, sending everyone out at level par.

It was a strange solution and it resulted in Ward shooting rounds of 66 and 70 and yet finishing third to Anton Karlsson who shot 74 and 68. Scores

As Ward put it on Twitter: 

As it turned out, the two-time former South of Ireland champion had a chance to force a playoff with eventual winner Karlsson, who finished two hours before him with a four under 68.

Ward was one under with two to play when he made an eagle two at the 17th to get within one of the Swede. 

But he took five at the last and missed out join the chance of a €2,500 payday, ending up in a tie for third.

Headfort’s Rory McNamara shot 72 to share 10th spot in the 35-strong field.