Turner wows US with strong finish

Irish golfer Niall Turner took his place at US collegiate golf’s top table with a top 10 finish at the prestigious NCAA Championships in Oregon last night.

The University of Minnesota junior from Cork helped his team to a third-place finish in the national finals at the Crosswater Club in Sunriver.

Turner’s fellow junior Bronson La’Cassie led the way for the Gophers with a final round four-under-par 68 to give him a sixth place individual finish while the Muskerry golfer finished in a tie for 10th overall after an even-par final round of 72.

The team fired a final day combined six-under-par 282 to finish in a tie for third place, with a 5-under total score of 1147. That was four shots behind Oklahoma State, who claimed the title at nine under 1143.

Florida placed second, just a shot ahead of Minnesota at six-under while Wake Forest finished tied with the Gophers for third.

“What an awesome day,” said Turner’s head coach Brad James after the final round.

“Our kids had a chance on the back nine to win our second national championship in five years.

“As a coach, that’s all you can ask for. We came close and nearly took it. To finish third at the national championship on a course like this is phenomenal.”

Turner, who fired a three-under-par 69 on Friday, ended with an even-par round of 72.

He completed the tournament at two-under par to become just the eighth Gopher to place in the top 10 at the NCAA Championships. Team-mates Josh Persons, Clayton Rask and Victor Alstrom helped the team to third by fnishing tied for 20th, tied for 50th and tied for 70th place individually.

Ireland’s other two competitors at the championships fared less well despite high hopes going into the tournament. An all-British and Irish East Tennessee State University team, including Limerick’s Cian McNamara and Lisburn’s Gareth Shaw, failed to live up to its top 15 ranking in the nation by missing the cut which sent the top 15 teams into the fourth and final round.

ETSU finished 21st overall at 21-over for the event (286-301-298=885), led by Welsh junior Rhys Davies. The country’s fourth-ranked player tied for 30th but still missed the individual cut by one stroke, as the top six players not on a Top 15 team also advance to Saturday’s final round.

McNamara fired the team’s second lowest score of the third day with a two-over 74, and joined fellow sophomore Shaw with a tie for 63rd at four-over for the event.