SCOTS IN THE MONEY IN EUROPR0 TOUR EVENT IN IRELAND

Paul Doherty won second prize of £5,000, Elliot Saltman the third place £2,500 and Paul McKechnie earned £1,125 for joint fifth  as the Scots made their presence felt in the PGA EuroPro Tour's Kingspan Concra Wood Open at Concra Wood Golf Club, Castleblainey in Ireland today.
Doherty was pipped by two shots for the jackpot prize of £10,000 which was won by Marcus Armitage (Howley Hall) with rounds of 73, 67 and 68 for eight-under-par 208.
Doherty shot 69, 70 and 71 for 210.
Saltman birdied fourth of the last five holes for a grandstand finish that gave him a 66 to follow scores of 77 and 68. He had eight birdies in all in his final round which saw him finish third on 211.
McKechnie signed off with a 69 for 213. A double bogey 6 at the 16th marred a card that have four birdies in the first six holes and two more later, at the 12th and 15th.
Neil Fenwick (Dunbar) finished on 219  with a closing 70. Also on the three-over mark was Malcolm Isaacs (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) who ended with a 71. They tied for 30th place and earned £290 apiece.
Jordan Findlay's scores deteriorated each day - 70, 76 and 79th for 225 and 47th place. His payslip amounted to £220.


LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
208 M Armitage (Howley Hall) 73 67 68 (£10,000)
210  P Doherty (Vale Hotel) 69 70 71 (£5,000)
211 E Saltman (Archerfield Links) 77 68 66 (£2,500)
212 R Edginton (Royal Wimbledon) 73 71 68 (£1,700)
213 P McKechnie (Braid Hills) 71 73 69, J Winer (Woolston Manor) 71 72 70, N McCarthy (Moortown) 74 68 71, B Hemstock (Teignmouth) 70 71 72  (£1,125 each)

OTHER SCOTS SCORES
219 N Fenwick (Dunbar) 78 71 70, M Isaacs (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) 76 72 71 (T30) (£290 each)
225 J Findlay (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) 70 76 79 (47th) (£220).

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE PGA EUROPRO TOUR

Marcus Armitage recorded his first 888poker.com PGA EuroPro Tour victory when he shot a final-round 68 to win the Kingspan Concra Wood Open by two strokes from Paul Doherty.

Armitage finished the event eight under par after his four-under last 18 at the par-72 Concra Wood Golf Club in Castleblayney, Ireland.

The Yorkshireman began the final round one behind Scotland’s Doherty but began in some style with an eagle on the par-five first, climbing to six under alongside his playing partner Doherty, who opened with a birdie four.

Birdies on the third and fourth afforded Armitage a two-stroke advantage, but Doherty hit back-to-back par breakers at seven and eight to leave the pair tied at eight under.

Armitage dropped back one when he bogeyed the tenth but Doherty joined him three holes later when he took six at the par-five 13^th.

On the 14^th Armitage returned to eight under and as heavy rain began to engulf the course at Concra Wood, Doherty dropped to six under with a bogey on the 17^th. His English rival held his nerve to par the last and collect the £10,000 winner’s cheque and a brand new Motocaddy trolley.

“I have only played twice on this tour before and I missed the cut both times,” said Armitage on collecting his trophy. “This is my first event of the year since Qualifying School and it is great to win, I didn’t think it would feel as good as it does to win it. Concra Wood is a great test.

“The rain got heavy on the last three holes and I just had to focus and play the shots I needed too.”

Doherty takes home £5,000 after finishing six under par for the tournament, while his compatriot Elliot Saltman shot a six-under-par final round 66 to fire himself from one over par at the start of the day to five under and third place by the end.

Richard Edginton shot a four-under final round to finish fourth. The Wimbledon golfer had to putt the last 11 holes with his driver after a mishap left his putter bent.

A two-hour highlights package of the Kingspan Concra Wood Open will be broadcast on Sky Sports HD at 7pm on Tuesday, August 6, repeated on Wednesday, August 7. The next 888poker.com PGA EuroPro Tour event takes place at Rowallan Castle, Ayrshire and begins on Wednesday, July 31.