Richard Wallis Shoots 65 To Claim EuroPro Win

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Richard Wallis shot a final-round 65 to win the PGA EuroPro Tour’s Kerry London Championship by seven strokes from Nick McCarthy.

Wallis – from Walmer & Kingsdown Golf Club – began the last day at Burhill Golf Club’s New Course as joint leader with McCarthy, but his seven-under-par final round took him to 15-under for the tournament, earning him the £10,000 winner’s cheque, a brand new Motocaddy trolley and an invite to the Challenge Tour’s Scottish Hydro Challenge.

The victory is Wallis’ first on the EuroPro Tour and comes off the back of a successful 2012 on the PGA South Region Order of Merit, which earned him his card.

“It feels fantastic to win my first event on the EuroPro Tour,” said Wallis. “Nick and I had a very good battle on the front nine and it was holing a couple of sneaky 30-footers on 12 and 13 that was the difference.

“The greens are so good that you can hole from anywhere. They are a decent speed so when you hit from 30-feet you are able to sneak them in.

“It’s only my second EuroPro Tour tournament so I am over the moon to get my first win on the tour. I played at Wentworth last week and that stood me in good stead to come here this week.”

Wallis shot eight birdies on his final round but a bogey on the par-3 18th prevented him from equalling the course record of 64, set by Billy Fowles en-route to winning the 2012 Kerry London Championship.

“I wanted to finish with a two and get nine-under,” he said. “If you ask any golfer you want to hole any putt. My pitch mark was on the line so I had to hit it far enough to get over it but I was trying to hole it.”

McCarthy shot a level par 72 to conclude the week eight-under. He began well with back-to-back birdies to take the outright lead on 10-under, but bogeys at four and nine saw him drop back.

He remained in contention with birdies at 10 and 11, though by this stage Wallis was beginning to build his lead and a double bogey on the 17th had no bearing on McCarthy’s final standing, with Wallis already six shots clear by that point.

Spaniard Sebastian Garcia Grout shot three rounds of 70 to finish third on six-under and last year’s winner Fowles concluded the week fourth on four-under.

Highlights of the Kerry London Championship will air four times on Sky Sports HD on Wednesday the 12th of June, and will feature TG’s very own Instruction Editor Kit Alexander, who will be interviewing Wallis.

The next EuroPro Tour event is the PDC and World Snooker Open at Collingtree Park in Northampton, beginning on Wednesday, June 19th.

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