Irish Open:Richard Finch was able to see the funny side of falling into the River Maigue as the Englishman went on to record his second win of the season by securing the Irish Open at Adare Manor this afternoon.

The Hull golfer was three shots ahead playing the par five 18th when his second shot went perilously close to water before resting on the steep riverbank. When hitting his approach onto the left side of the green, Finch lost his balance and fell into the river.

Showing great agility the 30-year-old still managed to avoid grounding his club despite being waist high in the river. Still, he was able to laugh about the incident before drying himself off and accepting the applauses from the gallery around the green.

"It was not a choice really," said Finch when asked about his early bath. "It was a bit of an awkward stance, but I never gave falling in a thought.

"The momentum of the follow-through took me round and in."

By three putting for a bogey six a wet Finch signed for a closing 70 for a 10-under 278 winning aggregate. Chilean Felipe Aguilar also shot 70 to secure second, two shots back on eight under.  By lifting the €416,660 winner's cheque Finch adds the Irish Open title to the New Zealand Open win from earlier in the season.

At one stage in the day Gary Murphy looked destined to become the next Irish winner on tour. The Kilkenny native stormed out of the blocks with four birdies in his opening six holes when others around him were dropping shots all over the place.

Having started the day five off Bradley Dredge's overnight lead, the 34-year-old moved into a share of the lead on eight-under at that point. However, a dropped shot at the eighth stalled the momentum and after another dropped shot at the 13th the burly Irishman was always trailing.

Murphy eventually signed for a closing 69 to tie a very respectable third on seven-under alongside Sweden's Robert Karlsson (71), England's Lee Westwood and Maarten Lafeber (67) from the Netherlands.

As leading Irishman for the week, Murphy also earned a €118,750 cheque that will go some way towards keeping his card in what has been a "difficult" season up to this point.

"I felt nice and composed out there," said Murphy after his round. "I played well over the weekend and the secret today was holing a few putts. Perhaps the mistake I made was looking at the leaderboards on the seventh after my fast start."

"I've had a slow start to the season and it has been tough going the last couple of months. Sometimes this job can be stressful as you worry about keeping your card."

It was a good tournament for Rory McIlory, whose third 70 of the week, left the 19-year-old seventh on six-under in his first Irish Open as a professional.

Darren Clarke (73) and Paul McGinley (71) both finished tied 16th on two-under with the former having his race run yesterday after a triple bogey eight at the 18th.

Clarke's hangover from last night's finish was still felt this morning for he was five-over in as many holes. But credit to this year's BMW Asian Open winner for he birdied three of the next four.

Peter Lawrie was a shot further back after his 69 earlier in the day left this year's Spanish Open winner on one-under.

There was disappointment for Pádraig Harrington as the defending champion closed with an uncharacteristic 76 to be one-over. That was the same score as Dredge, who saw his overnight lead evaporate to eventually finish tied eighth on five-under.

It has been quite a journey for Finch - in more ways than one and some wetter than others - who last year was fighting to keep his tour card right up to the last day of the final event.

This win in Limerick moves the Englishman up to fifth on the European Tour Order of Merit.

"I was a lot calmer than I was in New Zealand, and although my swing was not great, I felt a lot more on control," he added.