McCarroll again!

Brendan McCarroll (second left) (c) Alessandro Pio

He did it ! Back-to-back win for Irishman Brendan McCarroll. All day long he and Martin Wiegele were neck and neck but the latter dropped one shot on ultimate hole to lose what was kinf of match play last round.

This is the second time in Gösser Open history that the defending champion captures back-to-back title. Scot Gordon Manson had graved his name four times on the Gôsser Open book and two in a row in the 90’s.

Austrian’s hopes were on one man’s shoulders ; Martin Wiegel and he battled during 17 holes to offer his public a trophy. After front nine, McCarroll had a single stroke advantage thanks to an eagle on the 9^th. The first dropped shot of the day was on Wiegele’s scorecard. He gave on the fourteen a second shot clear to his opponent.

But story was written that suspens couldn’t stop here. McCarroll made a double bogey on the 15^th par 3 and went back tie with crowd’s favorite. Both players arrived on the last tee with -14 total and the nice smell of extra holes needed was in the air. Gösser Open is used to have play-off and recorded the longest one on the Alps Tour tournament in 2008 : Martin Wiegele had needed 8 holes to win over Lattanzi and Rota.

The end of the 2013 chapter has eventually finished on the 54^th green (3 round event). Wiegele dropped one shot as McCarroll played safely par to grab the trophy. With this win, McCarroll enters top5 of Alps Tour ranking at second position.

Wiegele shared his second place with Rhys Enoch who shot 65 and got his first podium of the season. Alessio Bruschi signed for the best score of the day with amazing 63 9-under-par to finished 4^th. Jesus Legarrea finished 5^th by his own. Austria’s Johannes Steiner scored 64 to climb to the 6^th place. The best Austrian amateur (first right on the picture), Sepp Straka ended his pro event at 21^st place alone with -5 total.

Agathe Séron