James Sugrue finished best of the Irish in T12 position on 6-under par after adding a closing round 71 to his earlier efforts of 64 and 69 while Robert Moran returned a final round 69 to complete his week and ended in T27 place at the 2024 Memorial Giorgio Bordoni presented by AON, with Italy’s Mattia Comotti taking the title on 15-under par.
Fellow Italian player, Enrico Di Nitto finished in 2nd place only one stroke back while France’s Benjamin Kedochim continued his solid performance with a three-day score of 11-under par.
The final round began at 8:00 a.m. local time from the 1stand 10th hole with the final group teeing off at 9:17 am local time in optimal scoring conditions with sunny skies and warm temperatures.
This is Comotti’s first Alps Tour title at the age of 24 and having taken the lead in round two he never looked likely to relinquish it as his 3-under par round (67) helped him to the title and he was understandably very emotional and commented: “I’m extremely happy, I’m speechless to be honest.
“To earn my first win as a professional in not even a full calendar year since I turned pro is truly amazing. This win is for my entire family, but especially my mom, who passed away, and my coach. To be honest I wasn’t expecting this win, I hadn’t booked a hotel room for last night. Normally, I’m always right on the cut line, but today, to be playing in the final pairing today and earn the win is extraordinary.”
Comotti also took the time to congratulate his compatriot Di Nitto; “I must congratulate my playing partner Enrico Di Nitto. He’s a great fighter and we were very close for the entire day. Had he made the putt on the 17th hole, we would have been tied heading to the 18th and it would have been a great fight. I had a short putt on the 18th hole but I told myself if I miss I lose and need to play in a playoff against a great player so I really concentrated on making the putt.”
After the 5th event of the season, the Alps Tour Order of Merit rank has Edoardo R Lipparelli still in the lead with 14,715 points. Aymeric Laussot remains in 2nd place with 12,001.50 points and Benjamin Kedochim moves into 3rd place with 9,416.25. Enrico Di Nitto is now in 4th place with 8,960.25 and Gianmaria Rean Trinchero is in 5th place with 7,425 points.
The next event on the schedule is set for next week, from May 16 to 18th in Austria. Players will compete in the 32nd edition of the Gösser Open, the oldest tournament on the Alps Tour schedule at Golf Club Erzherzog Johann in Maria Lankowitz, Graz.