TARTAN TOUR MEN WRIGHT AND HUTCHEON 

FINISH FIRST AND THIRD IN PGA PLAY-OFFS

PGA PLAY-OFFS NEWS RELEASE

FROM MATTHEW SUDDABY

Tartan Tour Welshman Gareth Wright fought until the very end at Antalya Golf Club, Turkeyu to win a first PGA Play-Offs crown and secure his status as the PGA number one.

In a great boost for the PGA in Scotland circuit, Wright was backed up by Greig Hutcheon (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) in third place and Graham Fox (Clydeway Golf) in joint sixth spot.

Chris Kelly (unattached), the Scottish professional champion and the third Tartan Tour man in the select field, tied for 16th place.

Wright, the West Linton PGA professional, holed a vital 15-foot putt for birdie on the PGA Sultan Course’s 18^th green to nip in ahead of Matt Cort and secure the crown and a £2,000 cheque at the culmination of a frantic day on the south coast of Turkey.

The Welshman had gone toe-to-toe with the Beedles Lake pro over the duration of an action-packed final day.

And he described the experience of going up against Cort as being “like matchplay,” such was the nature of their close-fought battle in the Turkish sun.

Wright ended the championship with a nine-under-par total of 275, one shot clear of Cort who for much of the day had led, having come in as the overnight leader.

But towards the end Wright began to reel the Leicestershire man in and when Cort got a horrendously unlucky lie beneath the lip of one of the bunkers on the edge of the 18^th green, the PGA Cup player spotted his opportunity to pounce.

“To win an event like this where you’ve got 24 of the top players in the country is really thrilling,” he explained.

“There’s some guys out here that have had European Tour cards, so it’s a big achievement to come out and win an event like this.

“I’m proud to be the PGA number one and it’s the perfect way to end the PGA season.

“I’ve had a lot of second place finishes this year and of course you always want to win, so I’m really pleased to get this on the board.

Wright will now secure entry to several European and Challenge Tour events next year, including, subject to confirmation from the European Tour, the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

There he will likely be joined by the rest of the top 10, including Cort and third-placed Greig Hutcheon who was going for a hat-trick of victories in this event.
Cort earned £1,500 and Hutcheon £1,200.
Said Greig:

"Just a wee bit frustrated that did not score as low as I wished, but nevertheless the course was perfect. With more rough than we had ever seen , mistakes were punished. Tough conditions prevailed throughout with a stiff breeze today. 

"Turkey is a breath of fresh air in the golf market with high quality, good value holidays all inclusive .

"Playing Wentworth again though in 2016 😃"

Greig

“Hopefully we’ll get those Tour spots again and that will be something we can really look forward to next year,” Wright said.

“But we’ve been lucky this week, to come out here to such a great course has been amazing – we’ve been looked after really well.”

The other players to finish in the top 10 and with it potentially secure a place at Wentworth in next year's PGA championship were James Ruth (China Fleet), Colm Moriarty (Drive Golf Performance), David Higgins (Waterville), Graham Fox (Clydeway Golf), Eamonn Brady (Clontarf), Guy Woodman (Longball Inc) and James Ablett (Lee-on-the-Solent).
Fox earned £725 for his T6 finish and Kelly £356 for T16.

 FINAL TOTALS
    par 284 (4x71)                                              

				R1	R2	R3	R4	Total		Prize Fund
1	Gareth Wright  West Linton Golf Club	.			68	72	68	67	275		£2,000.00
2	Matthew Cort  Beedles Lake Golf Club				68	74	65	69	276		£1,500.00
3	Greig Hutcheon  Paul Lawrie Golf Centre				68	71	70	70	279		£1,200.00
4	James Ruth  China Fleet Golf & Country Clu				74	66	69	71	280		£1,000.00
5	Colm Moriarty  Drive Golf Performance Limited				67	74	68	73	282		£850.00
T6	David Higgins  Waterville Golf Links				68	73	71	71	283		£725.00
T6	Graham Fox  Clydeway Golf				74	68	69	72	283		£725.00
8	Eamonn Brady  Clontarf Golf Club				72	73	70	70	285		£650.00
9	Guy Woodman  Longball Inc				73	73	74	66	286		£600.00
T10	James Ablett  Lee-on-The-Solent Golf Club				72	73	70	72	287		£525.00
T10	Paul Hendriksen  Ivybridge Golf Club				72	72	70	73	287		£525.00
T12	Jack Harrison  Wildwood Golf  and Country Club				73	74	69	72	288		£450.00
T12	David Salisbury  Three Rivers Golf and Country Cl				73	75	68	72	288		£450.00
T12	Cameron Clark  Moor Hall Golf Club				71	73	69	75	288		£450.00
15	Garry Houston  Carden Park Golf				74	74	71	71	290		£400.00
T16	Glen Portelli  Verulam Golf Club				76	74	75	68	293		£356.67
T16	Chris Kelly				75	72	74	72	293		£356.67
T16	Jak Hamblett  Handsworth Golf Club				71	75	72	75	293		£356.67
19	Adam Frayne  Yelverton Golf Club				73	74	71	76	294		£330.00
20	Lee Thompson  Dudsbury Golf Club				73	78	72	73	296		£320.00
21	Darren Charlton  Dunstable Downs Golf Club				70	77	73	77	297		£315.00
22	Luke Towler  Telford Golf & Country Club				75	78	70	77	300		£310.00
23	Simon Edwards  Windermere Golf Club				73	78	78	72	301		£305.00
24	Craig Corrigan  Chilli Dip Golf Academy				76	78	75	74	303		£300.00
25	Benn Barham  Pentland Golf				74	73	78	79	304		£295.00