John Catlin Wins Second Title Of September At Irish Open
The American birdied the 72nd hole at Galgorm Castle to win by two
The American birdied the 72nd hole at Galgorm Castle to win by two
John Catlin Wins Second Title Of September At Irish Open
John Catlin overturned a four-stroke deficit at Galgorm Castle Golf Club, firing a sublime final round 64 to win his second European Tour title of the season at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.
The American, who held off the challenge of former World No.1 Martin Kaymer to win the Andalucia Masters earlier this month, started the day four strokes behind 54-hole leader Aaron Rai but quickly moved up the leaderboard as he made the turn in three under par.
A bogey on the 13th, his only dropped shot in 27 holes, was cancelled out by a long birdie putt on the 15th which drew him level with Rai on eight under. He pulled clear after another gain on the 16th hole and then signed for a ten under par total after a stunning three wood from 268 yards left him with an easy two putt for his seventh birdie of the day at the last.
Watch Catlin's superb 3 wood at the 72nd hole:
Rai birdied the 17th to move to nine under, needing a birdie to force a playoff, but an errant second shot found trouble on the left hand side of the green and a dropped shot handed Catlin his second victory in four weeks.
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Catlin moves up to a career-high 84th in the world.
Related: John Catlin What's in the bag?
Australian Maverick Antcliff and Thailand's Jazz Janewattananond shared third place on seven under par, while the Swedish duo of Joakim Lagergren and Oscar Lengden finished tied for fifth.
"It's pretty hard to describe. So many years of hard work have gone into this moment. It was my goal to win again at the start of this week, to have accomplished it is something truly, truly special," Catlin said.
"I had nothing to lose. I was going after every flag, I had good numbers and the greens were soft. So I started taking aim and hit a couple in their close. I made a long one on 15 and that three wood on 18 was so satisfying. It was 268 yards to the hole, cold and damp. To just hit a big high draw in there like I know I can, under those conditions, really is hard to put into words.
"(Winning at Valderrama) was massive. You never know if you’re going to win or not, to get that monkey off my back at Valderrama really freed me up today to know I could do it. Be able to look myself in the mirror and tell myself that I’ve been here before and I can do it again.
"I’ve always wanted to play in the Majors, that’s the only level of golf I haven’t played at. Hopefully one day I can win one of those as well. To have gotten inside that top 100 is a big leap forward."
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Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He covered the 2022 and 2025 Masters from Augusta National and was there by the 18th green to watch Rory McIlroy complete the career grand slam. He has also covered five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews.