Moynihan shoots 15 under; slips out of Challenge Tour top-15
Joel Sjöholm. Picture © Alessandro Bellicini
Gavin Moynihan closed with a pair of 65s at the weekend but still slipped out of the crucial top 15 in the Challenge Tour's Road to Oman rankings.
The 22-year-old from The Island feared he had missed the cut after rounds of 66 and 73 in the Italian Challenge Open by Lyoness in Sardinia.
But even after making it on the mark and then firing a brace of six-under-par 65s in the last two rounds to share 15th place on 15-under par behind winner Joel Sjoholm, he still fell two spots to 17th in the money list with the top 15 at the end of the season earning promotion to the main tour.
Great weekend out in Sardinia after thinking I missed the cut. Two 65's to move up into top 15. Two very solid weeks. Week off now. @TeamISM
— Gavin Moynihan (@GavinMoynihan) July 16, 2017
Ruaidhri McGee (45th) is the next best of the Irish after missing the cut in Sardinia with Michael Hoey 51st and Cormac Sharvin 77th after finishing tied 49th in Sardinia.
Gary Hurley is ranked 110th after seven Challenge Tour starts and his fifth successive missed cut on either the main or secondary tour with Kevin Phelan 174th, Neil O'Briain 198th, Chris Selfridge 217th and Stephen Grant 214th
Sjöholm won his maiden European Challenge Tour title in style by carding a final round of 65 to come from two shots behind Scotland's Bradley Neil to triumph by four shots at Is Molas.
Nine years since he joined the paid ranks, a jubilant Sjöholm was overjoyed to have claimed his first professional victory.
“It feels amazing,” he said. “I never thought when I was ten years old that I would have to wait until I was 32 before I earned my first victory as a professional.
“It is close to being the best thing that has ever happened to me. Obviously having children and getting married will always be the most special thing, but this is pretty incredible.
“I shouldn’t really be standing here. I was playing on an invite this week, and I have to thank Alain, the Challenge Tour Director, and my management for getting me into the tournament.
“I only got here on Wednesday, I missed my flight on Monday, and I was a little bit worried about not being able to play the golf course – but this week I just putted really well and that was the difference.”
Final scores:
260 J Sjöholm (Swe) 67 62 66 65,
264 C Koepka (USA) 65 66 65 68, B Neil (Sco) 65 64 64 71,
266 J Heath (Eng) 69 67 68 62, A Rai (Eng) 66 67 69 64, N Cullen (Aus) 67 66 67 66,
267 D Huizing (Ned) 67 66 67 67, M Schwab (Aut) 67 68 65 67, G Porteous (Eng) 67 67 65 68, A Tadini (Ita) 69 68 66 64, O Lindell (Fin) 66 66 68 67,
268 O Farr (Wal) 63 69 67 69, E Van Rooyen (RSA) 68 66 66 68, T Murray (Eng) 66 69 67 66,
269 P Widegren (Swe) 68 69 67 65, R Saxton (Ned) 64 65 72 68, Gavin Moynihan (Irl) 66 73 65 65,
270 A Rozner (Fra) 69 70 66 65, L Gagli (Ita) 68 66 66 70, N Johansson (Swe) 71 66 66 67, R Sciot-Siegrist (Fra) 66 69 68 67, M Orrin (Eng) 70 65 65 70,
271 R McEvoy (Eng) 68 66 70 67, J Suri (USA) 68 65 68 70,
272 F Laporta (Ita) 71 67 65 69, S Soderberg (Swe) 71 68 66 67, D Foos (Ger) 71 68 69 64, J Guerrier (Fra) 67 71 66 68,
273 T Pulkkanen (Fin) 64 71 68 70, M Ovesen (Den) 69 69 67 68, H Joannes (Bel) 72 65 67 69, J Cafourek (Cze) 65 69 67 72, J Mullen (Eng) 66 69 64 74, V Perez (Fra) 71 68 68 66,
274 R McCarthy (Aus) 66 69 67 72, A Pavan (Ita) 67 66 70 71, M Eggenberger (Sui) 67 70 70 67, A Karlsson (Swe) 65 69 71 69, C Mivis (Bel) 66 71 69 68, C Bezuidenhout (RSA) 69 67 67 71, S Brown (Eng) 70 66 69 69,
275 J Dantorp (Swe) 73 65 67 70, E Goya (Arg) 68 68 72 67, C Ford (Eng) 68 70 70 67, J Girrbach (Sui) 74 63 71 67, M Delpodio (Ita) 69 68 69 69, J Allan (Eng) 69 70 71 65, M Pastor (Esp) 68 69 67 71,
276 Cormac Sharvin (Nir) 68 67 70 71, S Forsström (Swe) 70 67 69 70, J Senior (Eng) 70 69 69 68, J Vecchi Fossa (Ita) 71 68 67 70, N Ravano (Ita) 69 68 69 70,
277 A Wennstam (Swe) 69 69 66 73,
278 D Van Driel (Ned) 68 69 69 72, T Linard (Fra) 67 69 71 71, Chris Selfridge (Nir) 70 69 67 72, E Cuartero Blanco (Esp) 69 66 73 70, P Gal (Cze) 71 68 70 69, G Boyd (Eng) 66 72 69 71,
279 J Brun (Fra) 71 67 71 70, J Sarasti (Esp) 68 71 70 70, V Riu (Fra) 68 70 70 71,
280 A Saddier (Fra) 71 66 73 70,
281 L Galliano (Sui) 70 69 70 72, M Tullo (Chi) 67 69 72 73, R Coles (Eng) 71 68 71 71, O Stark (Swe) 63 75 70 73,
282 M Fenasse (Fra) 66 71 71 74, R Evans (Eng) 71 68 73 70,
288 B Hellgren (Swe) 73 65 76 74,
CUT (139)
140 Ruaidhri McGee (Irl) 69 71
143 Gary Hurley (Irl) 72 71
147 Stephen Grant (Irl) 77 70
WD Michael Hoey (Nir) 76 WD
