Richard Finch added a touch of comic (though unintended) genius to his victory at the Irish Open yesterday when he lost his balance after playing his third shot to the final green, slipped down a bank and plunged up to his waist in water.
With the River Maigue running in front of the 18th green at Adare Manor, there is always the potential for embarrassment at what is regarded as one of the best finishing holes in competition golf. And although the slip did not cost the 30-year-old Englishman his second win on tour this year, it did cost him a little of his dignity. Last year, Bradley Dredge took a seven at the same hole to lose in a play-off to Padraig Harrington. But when Finch slipped up, the three-stroke lead he held at the start of the hole was enough of a cushion to have a bit of fun on the way. Without a doubt, it provided the best entertainment the Irish gallery had witnessed all week.
“I decided to hit the ball hard and never gave falling in a thought,” Finch, who bogeyed the hole, said. “But my momentum pulled me round and I fell in. As soon as I made the shot, I knew I’d made good contact but kept slipping down the bank.” In the event, Finch capped a fine week’s work with a final round of 70 for a ten-under-par total of 278 and victory by two strokes over Felipe Aguilar, of Chile, and three over four others - Lee Westwood, Gary Murphy, Robert Karlsson and Martin Lafeber.
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