RICHARD FINCH MAKES A SPLASH
AS HE WINS IRISH OPEN

England's Richard Finch not only won his second European Tour title today. He did something for which he will always be remembered and which is bound to figure on the "What happens next?" sporting programme.
Going along smoothly and with a three-stroke lead on the final hole of the Irish Open at Adare Manor, the 30-year-old from Hull saw his second shot to the par-5 18th finish on the bank of the River Maigue.
In playing his third, Finch lost his balance and fell into the water.
Although he then three-putted for a bogey 6, the former English amateur champion was able to celebrate adding the trophy and a first prize of £330,297 to his New Zealand Open success in December.
Finch, fighting for his future on the European Tour until the final day of last season, shot a closing 70 for a 10-under-par total of 278 and a two-stroke victory over Chilean Felipe Aguilar.
Only 218th in the world entering the event, Finch now stands fifth on the Order of Merit - 105 places higher than he was last season - and is only just outside the top 10 in the Ryder Cup standings.
Welshman Bradley Dredge, keen to make up for losing a play-off to Padraig Harrington a year ago, had been one ahead going into the final day, but the curse of the overnight lead struck him. Dredge relinquished the pole position when he followed an opening three-putt bogey with a double-bogey only two holes later.
FINAL SCOREBOARD
Par 288 (4 x 72)
278 Richard Finch 71 72 65 70
280 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 71 72 67 70
281 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 71 70 69 71, Gary Murphy 74 70 68 69, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 71 71 72 67, Lee Westwood 75 70 64 72
282 Rory McIlroy 70 72 70 70
283 Bradley Dredge 68 73 66 76, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 72 72 68 71
284 Anthony Wall 72 70 70 72, James Kingston (Rsa) 75 68 69 72, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 77 68 70 69
285 Alvaro Velasco (Spa) 69 72 72 72, David Frost (Rsa) 74 70 66 75, Johan Edfors (Swe) 68 73 73 71
286 Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 77 66 68 75, Lee S James 69 73 70 74, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 76 66 71 73, Darren Clarke 72 69 72 73, Paul McGinley 73 69 73 71, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 70 70 73 73
287 Peter Lawrie 71 75 72 69, Oliver Fisher 72 75 69 71
288 Ross Fisher 74 68 69 77, Stephen Gallacher 73 71 68 76, Steven O'Hara 74 68 72 74, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 77 69 71 71, Gregory Havret (Fra) 77 70 65 76, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 70 73 71 74, Paul Broadhurst 73 74 68 73
289 Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 68 70 75 76, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 73 73 70 73, Stuart Manley 71 72 76 70, Padraig Harrington 72 71 70 76
290 Oliver Wilson 74 73 71 72, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 70 77 74 69, Scott Strange (Aus) 71 74 74 71, John Bickerton 72 70 77 71, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 75 69 73 73
291 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 66 76 75 74, Gary Orr 71 73 73 74, Richard Green (Aus) 66 74 75 76, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 70 73 72 76, Simon Khan 71 74 75 71
292 Peter Baker 72 69 76 75, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 72 72 73 75, Julio Zapata (Arg) 72 73 72 75
293 Ulrich Van Den Berg (Rsa) 71 75 75 72, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 73 72 72 76, Colin Montgomerie 75 69 73 76, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 74 70 72 77, Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 74 72 73 74
294 Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 72 73 72 77
295 Marcel Siem (Ger) 68 71 75 81, Barry Lane 73 72 73 77
296 Stephen Dodd 74 71 75 76, Alastair Forsyth 71 72 75 78
297 Peter Hanson (Swe) 74 73 75 75, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 71 74 75 77
298 Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 73 74 76 75, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 72 74 77 75, Ross McGowan 74 71 75 78
299 Pedro Linhart (Spa) 71 76 74 78, David Drysdale 74 72 79 74
301 Matthew Millar (Aus) 73 73 79 76
302 Paul Waring 76 70 75 81
304 Luis Claverie (Spa) 73 73 73 85
306 Benoit Teilleria (Fra) 75 72 77 82