Cathal Butler storms back to win after play-off

Kinsale’s Cathal Butler won the Munster Stroke Play Championship at Cork Golf Club yesterday in a sudden death play-off over the host club’s Gary O’Flaherty.

lrish international Butler had shot the low final round yesterday, a three-under-par 69 in windy conditions, to come from seven shots back on 54-hole leader O’Flaherty and force the play-off.

O’Flaherty had been vying to become the host club’s first home grown winner in this competition’s 11-year history since evolving from the Cork Senior Scratch Cup, and had led by two shots going into the last 18 holes following a third-round 71 earlier in the day.

But his attempt foundered at the second hole of the sudden death play-off, the 17th.

Both had parred the first hole but at the 17th O’Flaherty missed the green and he left Butler needing two putts from 10 feet for victory, which the Kinsale golfer duly converted.

• Brilliant teenager Olivia Mehaffey retained her Welsh ladies open stroke-play title at a canter at Conwy on the North Wales coast.

Having surrendered her Scottish open title in horrendous conditions at Troon the previous weekend the 18-year-old, named last week in the Curtis Cup team, arrived in Wales in determined mood.

She closed with a highly-respectable 73 for a 54-hole aggregate of 220- one over par-for a comfortable five stroke success over Scotland’s Jessica Ross with German Fiona Liddell a further two strokes back.

• The Irish suffered a disappointing weekend in the Lytham Trophy at Royal Lytham and St Annes with Jack Hume and Colm Campbell the best of their contingent way down the field.
• China’s Li Hao-tong produced a stunning final round to become the second successive home winner of the Volvo China Open as Chile’s Felipe Aguilar finally cracked under the pressure.

Li carded a flawless 64 at Topwin Golf and Country Club to finish 22 under par and become the second Chinese player to win a European Tour event on home soil, following in the footsteps of 2015 champion Wu Ashun.