Kinsale’s John Murphy confessed he was initially “gutted” not to contend strongly for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship but after closing with a 71 to finish ninth behind Danny Willett he knows now he has the game to make it on the European Tour.

The 23-year old Walker Cup star was playing in just his third European Tour event but after going into the final round three shots behind Willett, then making three birdies in a row from the third to close to within two shots of the lead, he was bitterly disappointed to see his momentum robbed by a double-bogey six at the 352-yard ninth.

Willett birdied there and knocked in a 45 footer from off the green at the 10th to move clear of the field as Murphy hung in with some great short game skills.

After making up for a bogey at the 16th with a great up and down from the road at the 17th, he sank a seven footer at the 18th for a closing birdie three to clinch a top-10 finish and another chance to win his card at this week’s Spanish Open in Madrid.
Despite it all, the competitor inside him would not allow him to declare it a totally satisfactory day.

“As competitive as I am, it's disappointing,” said Murphy, who banked €81,543 to move up to 197th in the Race to Dubai with the top 127 earning full cards at the end of the season.

“I got into a nice position early on. I was in contention early on. Certainly the competitive player  in me is gutted right now, but looking back at it, it's been a great week. It's been certainly an experience I won't be forgetting in a hurry. 

“As I said, I could walk down that 18th fairway every day for the rest of my life.”

Confirming he would take confidence from his performance, he added: “I know I have a lot of improving to do. I know that I'm not the longest hitter out there, I'm not the straightest driver out there, my approach play isn't the best out there, my putting is not the best, but when I stand on the first tee, I convince myself that I can go to toe to toe with anybody out there, and I think I can.

“So I'm just going to try and improve in any way I can, learn from this week. You can always get better. So I'm going to see what areas I can improve going forward, and I'm looking forward to that improvement.”

Willett went on to celebrate his 34th birthday with his eighth European Tour win, firing two great shots to the heart of the 17th before closing with his eighth consecutive par for a 68 and a two-shot win over Tyrrell Hatton and Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren on 18-under par.

Shane Lowry played well but holed nothing down the stretch until he tapped in for a closing birdie after a big drive, carding a bogey-free 68 to finish tied fourth with Richard Bland, three behind the winner, for his best finish since the PGA Championship in May.

With just four regular-season events remaining on the European Tour, it will be a tall order to expect Challenge Tour regular Murphy to win his card now.

But 2016 Masters champion Willett believes the Cork man just has to cut out the errors that cost him yesterday.

Murphy was forced to take a penalty drop after hooking his tee shot into a bush at the driveable ninth. He then compounded his mistake by knocking his 44-yard third shot some 25 yards past the pin before three-putting for a costly double-bogey six.

“Yeah, John played good,” Willett said. “He was playing lovely. Made a couple of silly errors, and nine killed him, like really killed his momentum that he had going. It was just an unfortunate one, kind of rolled in the wind a little bit and had to take a drop.

“And then just them back seven holes also today were tough. Hard to get back from that. And then again a silly error on 16, but nice up-and-down on the last to again finish top 10, gets him in the week after.

“This is kind of what you want to do when you're first starting out. These top tens are massive, not only for the money, but for the opportunity to play the week after when you're clearly playing some good golf. We'll see how it goes next week.”

Murphy took his double at the ninth on the chin but it clearly hurt.

“I drove it lovely, hit the ball lovely all week,” he said. “Just that one tee shot cost two shots because the ninth was almost a par-three today. It was playing pretty easy. Felt like I dropped three there really. Danny made birdie there, I made double, that was a three-shot swing.

“I was kind of out of it after that, and that was the turning point. But felt like I had some nice up-and-downs on the back nine. I fought pretty hard and thankfully managed to put an under-par number on the board.

“I think it leaves me around ninth, which if you told me that at the start of the week, I’d have taken it.”

Having won the St Andrews Links Trophy in 2018, he admitted a repeat victory.

“I would have loved to have been in contention coming down that stretch, because that's why I practice, why I play golf, to put myself in those situations,” he said.

“But I'm pretty happy with how I got the most out of the last few holes. Got up-and-down on 17 and 18 to come top ten, so that was a positive take.”

Lowry could not make the putts on the back nine and shot 68 to finish tied fourth with Richard Bland, three behind Willett.

“I'm happy about this one,” said Lowry, who will spend this week “on the couch” before reappearing in Las Vegas for the CJ Cup.  “I feel like I left it all out there today. And top five, coming off of last week, my best finish for a while. 

“You need to finish with a better score around here to get the job done today. It is what it is.

“I'm a bit disappointed, but I'm really happy with how I played this week and how I handled myself after last week.”

There were still two Irish winners in the end as Michael Hoey, the 2011 champion, helped Maeve Danaher become the first woman to win the team competition thanks to a closing 60.

The 22-year handicapper, a left-hander who putts right-handed and plays out of 2027 Ryder Cup venue Adare Manor, improved by nine shots on Hoey’s final round 69 as they tied with Shane Warne and New Zealander Ryan Fox on 36-under par but claimed the title as Hoey’s first round at St Andrews was better than Fox’s.

The sweetest part about the win fro Danaher was that she beat her husband, Gerry McManus, who had also qualified for the final day in partnership with  Lowry, finishing fifth on 32-under.

“Gerry and I had a little bet on the first day to see who could get the best score, so I’ve won that!” Maeve said. “And that’s really pleasing!

“But it is absolutely amazing to win this competition, in such an exciting finish, and I am especially happy for Michael. He is an absolute rock, he’s fantastic. I wish he could have won the individual event too, but hopefully he’ll get an individual win again soon.”

Now playing on the Challenge Tour where he admitted it’s a struggle to meet weekly costs of €1,300, Hoey won €85,469— €43,120 for leading home the winning Pro-Am team as well as €42,349 for finishing tied 24th in the tournament proper on eight-under.

Thrilled to make a clutch four-footer on the last to win, Hoey said: “I didn't play unbelievable today, but kept it pretty solid because this can pay for my season. And it's quite a big thing.”

Joking, he added: "Obviously money is not important, but it's up there with oxygen.”

Meanwhile, The Island's Gavin Moynihan made it back to back top 20s on the Challenge Tour when he closed with a five-under 67 to finish 19th on 16-under in the Swiss Challenge, nine shots behind Dane Marcus Heligkilde.

At the LPGA Shoprite Classic, Leona Maguire closed with a level par 71 to finish tied 34th on five-under, nine shots behind her former Duke teammate, and current Solheim Cup teammate Celine Boutier.

The French star closed with an eight-under 63 at Seaview near Atlantic City to win by a shot from Brooke Henderson, Jin Young Ko and Inbee Park on 14-under.