[caption id="attachment_67384" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Peter Lawrie."]
Peter Lawrie led a strong Irish contingent at the Portugal Masters, played at Oceanico Victoria in Vilamoura, Portugal, finishing tied for 11th place, five strokes off Tom Lewis's winning score. Padraig Harrington and Shane Lowry were another stroke back in 18th place.
The Portugal Masters represents Lawrie's seventh top-20 finish of 2011. He couldn't have begun Sunday's final round much better than he did, carding birdie at each of the first four holes. He then shifted into neutral, not enjoying another birdie until the 12th hole, which was followed by another at 17. He avoided bogeys altogether in closing with 66 to join his previous round of 67, 68 and 71.
Harrington, who shot 67, 71, 67 and 68, profited most on the front nine over the weekend. He tallied four birdies there each day, but grew quiet on the back nine, where he managed only a single birdie, although he avoided bogeys there.
The biggest positive Lowry can take was his ability to avoid bogeys on Friday and Saturday. In fact, he'd gone 42 consecutive holes before taking bogey-4 at the sixth hole on Sunday without losing a stroke to par. There was nothing tepid about his play on Sunday; his card was festooned with seven birdies and four bogeys. He sandwiched three rounds of 69 around Friday's 66.
Gareth Maybin, who is in danger of losing his European Tour card, came out smoking, shooting 7-under-par 65 in the first round for a share of second place, one stroke off the lead. He cobbled together a round of eight birdies (six on the back nine) against just one bogey.
Maybin dropped off the pace in the second round, shooting 71. At this point, he was five strokes off Simon Khan's lead. He couldn't make anything happen over the weekend, however, and shot rounds of 72 and 71 to finish tied for 50th place at 279.
Damien McGrane got a share of 66th place at 283 (69-70-69-75), while hard-luck Gary Murphy made the cut before collapsing over the weekend. He brought up the rear, in 74th place, at 295 (67-72-82-74).
EUROPEAN SENIOR TOUR
Denis O'Sullivan fared best of the Irish trio in the Benahavis Senior Masters at La Quinta in Marbella, Spain. At 214 (70-71-73) for 54 holes, he was one stroke over par and 10 behind the victorious Carl Mason. O'Sullivan earned a share of 18th place.
Also on the scene were Des Smyth, in joint-43rd place at 221 (74-75-72), and Jimmy Heggarty, who tied for 52nd place at 224 (73-77-74).
CHALLENGE TOUR
Simon Thornton maintained his position on this Tour's Money list by finishing joint-26th in the Roma Golf Open at Olgiata Golf Club in Rome, Italy. Thornton, needing to stay within the top 20 in order to return to the European Tour next year (he's currently 15th), opened with a 4-under-par 67 for a share of seventh place, four strokes off the lead. He fell a stroke off the pace after a second-round 70, but still needed to make up only five shots at this juncture.
Thornton lost his edge over the weekend, shooting 72 and 75 to finish even for the event at 284, which was 11 strokes off the low numbers posted by Sam Little and Pelle Edberg. Little, who won the playoff, has now captured three of the last four events on this circuit.
Colm Moriarty finished the Challenge Tour season on an upbeat note, tied for sixth place at 8-under-par 276 (71-70-65-70), just three strokes off Little and Edberg. That 65 was built on seven birdies against just a single bogey. A double-bogey 7 at 15 in Sunday's final round spelled the end of any medal aspirations he might have had. Moriarty ended the tournament in 55th place on the money list, thereby missing the Grand Finale, which is open to the top 45.
Thornton will try to lock in a place on the 2012 European Tour and avoid a return to Q-School at the Grand Finale in Puglia, Italy, which tees off on Nov. 2.
PGA TOUR
That European Tour sure is tough these days. Who'd have thought that repairing to the Seaside Course in Sea Island, Ga. for The McGladrey Classic might represent a respite, but that's how it seemed when Graeme McDowell teed off there last Thursday and Friday. There was no weekend play for McDowell, however, who missed the cut by two strokes after rounds of 70 and 71.
McDowell, coming off his joint-third finish in Michael Hoey's Dunhill, was his own worst enemy. He botched a couple par-4s on Thursday, settling for double bogey, although he immediately responded with an eagle-2 after one of them. His putting then cost him on Friday, when he needed 34 putts, whereas he swung his putter only 28 times on Thursday.
EUROPEAN TOUR QUALIFYING
First-round qualifying has concluded with a dozen Irish golfers advancing to the second round, which is slated to commence on Dec. 2. Jonathan Caldwell was co-medalist at Dundonald in Scotland, one of eight venues used. Aaron O'Callaghan and Noel Fox also came out of this group. Also moving on are Stephen Grant, Niall Turner, Neil O'Briain, Cian McNamara, Michael McGeady, Chris Devlin, Brendan McCarroll, Mark Staunton and David Higgins.
ALPS TOUR
Gareth Shaw and Richard Kilpatrick shared 16th place in the Masters 13 at Pont Royal V in Mallemort, France. They both shot 289, which is one stroke over par and 12 behind the winning score posted by Guillaume Cambis. Shaw (71-77-72-69) rattled off five straight birdies beginning at the sixth hole on Sunday and knocked seven strokes off par over nine holes through 14. Kilpatrick signed to rounds of 72, 74, 73 and 70.
Dara Lernihan and Brendan McCarroll also shared the same score, although that was 297. Lernihan shot rounds of 76, 71, 76 and 74, while McCarroll came in with 78, 68, 75 and 76.
IRISH PGA
Barrie Trainor captured the Lexus Race to Mount Juliet Tournament at Mount Juliet in Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny with a 4-stroke victory over Brendan McGovern. Both men established themselves with first-round scores of 68. Trainor had nothing to do early in the second and final round other than allow McGovern to hand him the advantage. McGovern lost three strokes to par over the first four holes, while Trainor played evenly. In fact, he didn't get a birdie until the ninth, which he gave back at 11. From there, he took two strokes off par, while McGovern was unable to mount a challenge. Trainor carded 70 to McGovern's 74 for a 4-stroke victory.
