Other golf news in brief
Irish girls denied by France in thrilling final
EUROPEAN TEAMS:Ireland failed by the skin of their teeth on Saturday to retain their European Girls' team title.
In a nail-biting final over Denmark’s Aalborg course between the two outstanding teams of the championship they went down 3-2 to top qualifiers France.
For the first time in the five days of the tournament, the 15-year-old Maguire twins from Slieve Russell in Cavan did not find form, possibly exhausted by such a heavy schedule.
Both Leona and Lisa had been superb during qualifying and in the match-play rounds but after winning their foursomes in the final they lost their singles.
They gave Ireland a flier by beating Celine Boutier and Lea Charpier 3 and 1. Laura McCarthy and Stephanie Meadow lost their game. But it was still level at lunch with all to play for.
Lisa Maguire, playing at the top of the singles order, found Boutier too hot to handle, was always under pressure and eventually lost 3 and 2.
Meadow, from Royal Portrush, played some of her best golf of the week and was involved in a titanic battle with Manon Gidali with never more than a hole between them, Meadow edging home on the final green.
That levelled up the scores and it was all down to French Open under-20 champion Leona Maguire. It was a truly nip and tuck affair against Alexandra Bonetti, with Leona falling behind early on the back nine and going to the 16th one down. Steady play by Bonetti meant she could halve the last three holes and guide France to the title.
It was also a disappointing final day for Ireland in the other European championships, losing in them all.
They missed out on ninth place in the European Boys’ in Turkey when they lost 3½-1½ to Spain.
In the men’s team championship – an event they have won twice in the previous three years – the Irish ended up in 14th place after losing 4-1 to Norway.
And in the women’s event at La Manga, Ireland also finished 14th after losing 4½-½ to Belgium.
CHALLENGE TOUR:A course record round of 62 – the lowest of his career – helped Austrian Bernd Wiesberger to his maiden Challenge Tour title at the Allianz Golf Open de Lyon.
Wiesberger had a 17 under par aggregate at Golf du Gouverneur, near Lyon, France, to take the title by two shots from the fast-finishing Joel Sjöholm of Sweden. Colm Moriarty finished on three under a final round of 69.
SENIOR TOUR:Englishman George Ryall fired a closing round 66 to capture the inaugural Van Lanschot Senior Open by one stroke and become the first non-exempt winner on the European Senior Tour in four years.
The 51 year-old from Portishead, who only sealed his place in the field after finishing tied fifth in last week’s Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open, held off the challenge of Andrew Oldcorn at Royal Haagsche Golf and Country Club.
Des Smyth finished tied fifth on 210 after a closing 70, with Denis O’Sullivan a shot further back after a 67.
US TOUR:Steve Stricker withstood a last round challenge from Paul Goydos to win the John Deere Classic in Illinois.
Stricker shot a final round of 70 to finish on a 26-under par aggregate of 258, holding off Goydos, who shot 66, by two strokes. Stricker had taken a six-stroke lead and a PGA Tour 54-hole record 25 under par into the last day after rounds of 60, 66 and 62. And he began his final round with back-to-back birdies but Goydos had narrowed the lead to four by the turn.
