Richard Finch did his best Woody Austin impression on the way to his victory at the Irish Open at Adare Manor. With a 3 shot lead coming into the par 5 18th and after a slightly wayward drive found the right rough, the Englishman chose to take the safe option and lay up.

His heart must have been in his mouth as he watched his second go long and left towards the River Maigrue but luck was on his side and it stopped just short. Taking a precarious stance, Finch was only concentrating on hitting the green and his follow through meant he ended up waist deep in the water. Still, there was a smile on his face when he saw that his ball was on the green and even the ensuing 3 putt gave him a 2 stroke victory.

"As I hit the shot, I knew straight away I had sort of made decent contact." said Finch. "I don’t know whether I slipped or went round with momentum. And then the next thing I sort of just was gradually falling down the bank, which it was a case of, well, I kept trying to follow the ball, but obviously then I looked up and saw it on the green, and I was sort in a bit of shock of, thinking my God, what have I done!"

The win propels him to 5th on the Order of Merit, not bad for a man who last year didn’t know whether he would keep his Tour card until the last putt of the last event.

Earlier in the day, Welshman Bradley Dredge was in prime position with a 1 shot lead but suffered driver troubles from the start. Spraying it left and right, he bogeyed the first and double-bogeyed the third and ended up with a round of 76, leaving him in 8th place.

Home favourite and defending champion Padraig Harrington had a difficult time, not having any rounds in the 60’s meant that he languished tied for 31st.