Robert Moran went on a final day charge at the Alps de Andalucia carding eight birdies to challenge the lead. He would come up just short to finish second, one stroke back from tournament champion Brandon Kewalramani on eleven under, while Paul McBride’s one under saw him close out the week tied for 32nd.
It was a case of what might have been for Moran who put together a great final round 64 to follow his 65 from yesterday as he would scare the top of the leaderboard today before coming up just shy of the victory. The Castle GC man was in scintillating form around Aguilon Golf. A four under outward nine from Moran set the tone with just one shot given back on the par-4 fourth. Three more birdies would come on his way home with another shot dropped on the par-3 14th. Those two bogeys proved the difference on the final day as Moran’s wait for his first tour victory would have to continue. His second-place finish, a tour best for the 24-year-old and a third top-10 in his 11-tournament career on the Alps Tour. A decent strike rate in a burgeoning career on tour.
Paul McBride had another eventful journey around in his final round as the Island player went toe-to-toe with Golf Aguilon for the second day running. Starting off the tenth, McBride would begin trading blows with the course from the very beginning with a bogey-birdie-bogey start to the action. Eagle two on the par-4 15th was to come before a bogey-birdie finish to his front nine. The fireworks continued on his way home three birdies being undone by a dropped shot on the first and a double on the par-3 third hole. Birdie on his final hole of the day, the par-5 9th would see him creep under par for his final day and consolidate his position in 32nd for the week.
Tournament winner Kewalramani followed up his fine second-round 64 with a three-under to do just enough to hold off the charging Moran. His front nine won it for him, heading out bogey free with three birdies only to par his back nine was sufficient to clinch his second victory on tour this season.
After capturing his second win, Kewalramani joked: “I guess I can say I performed well both weeks because of the beautiful weather, but no, honestly, I noticed a lot of similarities in the greens both this week and at the other venue. The greens very were grainy, but I found them to be rolling very true. I knew if I was confident and trusted my lines, I could make them. It was just a week where I felt very confident overall. All aspects of my game were very solid and with this win, it’s a great way to end the week.” Asked if he is sticking around to compete in next week’s event: “I will definitely be in the field next week, and I’m excited to compete again here in Spain.”
With one more win required for the American to propel himself to the Challenge Tour, he will be looking to carry his form into the next event: “To be honest, I always knew that if you earned 3 wins in the same season on the same tour, you would be promoted to the next tour. I never really thought about it, but now that I earned 2 wins, I’m sure it’ll be crossing my mind, but I will try not to have that affect my game. I’m a player who really tries to stay in my own world out there, my own little bubble, and today, for example, I didn’t know exactly where I stood on the 18th tee. I knew I was close but didn’t know if I had a few strokes lead, if I was tied for the lead, or if I was behind. I will try to keep playing my own game, stay in my own world, and add it up at the end.”
The Alps Tour stays in Spain as the next event on the schedule sees attention turn to the Alps de Las Castillas on Golf Lerma in Burgos. The five Irish will take part from the 11th of July as the Spanish swing of the tour wraps up. Just four events remain before the Grand Final in Italy in October.