Laskey is king of Castle after play-off

Mark Laskey defeated Tim Rice and Oliver Farr in a play-off to win the Rowallan Castle Open on the 888poker.com PGA EuroPro Tour, after all three finished the tournament six under par.

After no play was possible on day two, the tournament was reduced to 36 holes with only the top 50 plus ties playing the final round.

Laskey (Brocket Hall), who carded a two-over-par 73, started the day two ahead on eight under and at one point had a four-stroke lead on ten under but bogeys at nine and ten were followed by a triple at the 11th to allow Rice (Limerick) with a 69 and Farr (Worcester Golf & Country Club) with a 71 to tie in the clubhouse on six under.

The trio faced sudden death at 18th, and played it three times before Laskey emerged triumphant after Farr dropped out when he bogeyed the second play-off hole and Rice did the same on the following play.

Laskey's win earned him £10,000, a brand new Motocaddy trolley and he now leads the 888poker.com PGA Europro Tour Order of Merit.

“It is great to get my first Europro Tour win,” he said. “It has been a long time coming so it is a bit of a hurdle I have finally jumped.

“When I lead by four I wasn’t thinking too far ahead but I was playing nicely and I was trying to push on and make birdies. I made a couple of sloppy mistakes but managed to keep my head together.

“It was definitely a lot harder today. Left to right winds are something I need to work on and that is where I messed up.

“I knew I was playing well enough and putting well. There are some tough holes to finish but I kept fighting and got into the play off. I haven’t been putting well this year so it was nice to putt well when I needed to.”

A two-hour highlights package of the event will be broadcast on Sky Sports HD at 8pm on Tuesday, August 13, repeated on Wednesday, August 14.

The next 888poker.com PGA Europro Tour event is the MarHall.com Scottish Classic, which takes place at Mar Hall Golf Club August 7-9.