On a wonderful day for Scottish golf, Marc Warren from Glasgow emerged victorious after a sudden-death play-off with Peter Whiteford of Kirkcaldy at the European Challenge Tour’s Ireland Ryder Cup Challenge in Killarney.
It took three play-off holes to separate the two Scots, who had finished tied atop the leaderboard on 16 under par after the regulation 72 holes.
Whiteford had gone into the final round as the clear favourite with a five stroke lead, but Warren – a Walker Cup winner in 2001 – produced a magnificent final day 66 that included three consecutive birdies on the 15th, 16th and 17th to draw level at the end of the fourth round, Whiteford having posted a one under 71.
Their enthralling play-off battle had everything to treat the watching Irish crowds – great approaches, missed birdies chances and gutsy par putts that were all played out in a truly sporting manner between two men who are an integral part of the Challenge Tour’s tartan contingent.
Warren eventually triumphed with a par four at the third extra hole, halving halved the first in five and the second with a pair of pars, to pick up the winners cheque for €20,800 that moves him to 14th place on the Challenge Tour Rankings and into the all important top 20 spots which are rewarded with European Tour cards at the end of the season.
Whiteford is not far outside the top 20 himself having picked up €14,300 at the Killarney Golf and Fishing Club. He moves from 79th to 35th on the Rankings and is under €10,000 outside the top 20.
“I feel more relief than anything just now,” smiled Warren immediately after sinking the winning putt. “I had a good chance to win it at the first extra hole and thought that maybe it had passed me by when I missed that putt, but I stayed calm and played my golf and thankfully it was good enough.
“To be in the play-off was a bit of a surprise because Peter had played so well all week, but I played very well today and it just feels great to finally have got the first professional win. At times it has felt like a lifetime in coming, but it feels good. Hopefully I can kick on from here and get the Tour card for next year now.”
Whiteford’s poor start to his final round – he fell back to fourteen under after a bogey at the par five second – fuelled the hungry chasing pack behind him, most notably his playing partners, Warren and Austrian Martin Wiegele.
Both the Scot and the Austrian birded the second, with Wiegele picking up another shot at the third hole. The 27 year old looked to be roaring into contention, but three consecutive dropped shots from the fourth to the sixth saw his challenge fall away almost as quickly as it had began.
Warren, on the other hand, applied some serious pressure to his fellow countryman. Whiteford birdied the fourth but dropped another stroke on the sixth, while Warren picked up two birdies on the spin at the sixth and seventh to move to 13 under and within a shot of the lead.
Those birdies helped Warren to the turn in three under par 33, while Whiteford reached the halfway stage in 37. As the final group began their journey back to the clubhouse, Whiteford banished the nerves that had tinged his final round performance with a timely chip in for birdie on the tenth.
That was followed up immediately with another birdie on the 11th, and Whiteford put further daylight between himself and his pursuers with a two on the par three 14th to move to 17 under and four clear of Warren and England’s Denny Lucas with four holes to play.
Warren, though, who finished tied for second place at the Challenge Tour’s last event, the Texbond Open, did not want to settle for second and again came back at Whiteford with birdies on the 15th,16th and 17th – where Whiteford bogeyed – to draw level coming down the last.
Both men made gutsy pars on the 18th – Warren made a great up and down from the left hand greenside rough, while Whiteford got down in two putts from around 100 feet.
And so the went to the play-off where Warren emerged the victor after a fantastic tussle with his fellow countryman.
