Sweden’s Vincent Norrman fired a final round 65 to storm to the top of the leaderboard at the Irish Open on Sunday and claim his second tour title in the space of just two months.
The 25-year-old from Stockholm, who won the PGA Tour’s Barbasol Championship in the United States in July – an event which is co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour – started the final day at The K Club six strokes behind the overnight leaders and was well off the pace after pars on his opening six holes. He made his first birdie on the seventh and ninth holes before play was suspended for 90 minutes due to the threat of lightning.
Norrman showed no signs of slowing down after the restart as he birdied four of his next five holes from the tenth. His birdie at 13 saw him move into a share of the lead for the first time and he then made his seventh gain of the day at 18 to set the clubhouse target of 14 under par.
Germany’s Hurley Long was also on 14 under par after 12 holes, but consecutive bogeys saw him slip back to 12 under. The 28-year-old gave himself an eagle look at the last, but he left his putt short, handing Norrman his second DP World Tour title.
Norrman said: “It feels unbelievable. It’s a world-class event, and it’s the coolest thing I’ve ever done in golf I think, and to do it in front of these fans and in a field stacked with great players is unbelievable.”
Home favourite Shane Lowry finished in a four-way tie for third with Ryan Fox, Grant Forrest and Thriston Lawrence, while Rory McIlroy, who started the final round just two shots off the lead, endured a horror show on Sunday, racking up a double bogey on the par-4 seventh and then a triple-bogey at the par-5 16th en route to a closing a 74 which dropped him into a share of 16th.
