Two weeks ago, Barry O'Neill jumped up the leaderboard with a big effort in a Hooters Tour event and last week was Fergal Rafferty's turn to raise some eyebrows. The Texas-based golfer out of Carrickmore, Omagh, took a share of 10th place in the Victoria Texas Open at Victoria Country Club in Victoria, Tex. Rafferty got off to a shaky start on Thursday, going four strokes over par by the turn. An eagle-3 on the back nine helped turn the tide, and he finished the round three over at 74. That preceded rounds of 66 and 65, which featured six backside birdies on Friday and no bogeys on Saturday. In with a slim chance on Sunday, Rafferty proceeded to bogey the first two holes and effectively remove himself from contention. He did manage another eagle-3 at 13, however, en route to 70 for the round.
Rafferty finished the event nine strokes under par at 275, which was 11 off the winning number posted by Jeff Corr. Rafferty's take was $4,755.
Waterford's O'Neill, who started the tournament with a double-bogey 6, missed the cut by two strokes after shooting rounds of 73 and 71. Stephen Grant of Co. Offaly also missed the cut, shooting three strokes on the high side at 145 (73-72).
EUROPEAN TOUR
Last week was a good one for the French. DSK walked and Thomas Levet captured the French Open at Le Golf National in Paris. Peter Lawrie was low Irishman at 2-over-par 286 (74-70-72-70), which garnered him a share of 21st place. Three bogeys coming in on Sunday cost Lawrie some positioning.
Newlywed Gareth Maybin tied for 47th place at 291 (70-72-72-77). Five double bogeys over his final 20 holes didn't help him any. Paul McGinley shot 298 (71-71-77-79) for a share of 62nd position. He lost nine strokes to par over the back nine on Sunday. Michael Hoey also had a gruesome time of it, checking in 66th at 302 (72-71-79-80).
Levet shot 277 for the victory.
EUROPEAN SENIORS TOUR
Des Smyth stood 14 strokes behind Angel Fernandez, the overnight leader, at the beginning of the third and final round of the Bad Ragaz Seniors Open in Switzerland. Smyth, coming off a victory, almost caught up with Fernandez, although that wouldn't have been enough for a second straight win.
Smyth carded 62 on Sunday, which was three strokes better than anyone else's score, while Fernandez shot 75. But while this was transpiring, a handful of others went lower, including Peter Fowler, who coughed up last week's event to Smyth. Fowler shot 196 for the win.
Smyth shot 68 and 70 in the first two rounds before tearing up the course on Sunday with five birdies and an eagle before making the turn. He managed another birdie at 10, and then cooled down, playing the course evenly the rest of the way. He finished four shots behind Fowler.
A bogey-free Sunday lifted Denis O'Sullivan into a share of 16th place at 204 (69-70-65). Jimmy Heggarty went the other way on Sunday and settled into 59th place at 216 (70-71-75). Eddie Polland finished 68th at 226 (74-75-77).
CHALLENGE TOUR
Colm Moriarty had a useful time in Sweden, earning a share of ninth place in The Princess at PGA of Sweden National. He carded three rounds of 69, along with 72 on Friday, to finish the event nine strokes under par at 279. That was seven strokes off the winning score hung up by Ricardo Santos.
