Michael Hoey earns a victory at the Trophee Hassan II - Golf
Northern Ireland’s Michael Hoey fired a seven-under par final round in the Trophee Hassan II at the Golf Du Palais Royal, to earn his fourth European Tour victory.
Hoey started his round placed fourth on the leaderboard. However, a stunning display of the game took him to the top at the end of the tournament, with a three-stroke lead over Damien McGrane.
"This is my second win in Morocco as I won on the Challenge Tour in Casablanca in 2008 so it's nice to come back and win here in Agadir and to have the Prince (Moulay Rachid) hand me the trophy," Hoey said.
He added, "The golf course was very enjoyable and to shoot 67 on day two and then finish with two 65s is simply amazing".
The highlights of his final day performance included four consecutive birdies, starting from the par-five fifth hole and a total of eight birdies against a lone bogey.
With this win, he put himself back in the hunt to secure a spot in the European Ryder Cup team.
When asked to comment about his renewed chances of making it to the Ryder cup, he said, “I've not really been thinking about it, but I'm obviously in contention”.
Meanwhile, the overnight leader, McGrane, said that the stretched day took a toll on his performance on the final day. Consequently, he was unable to give his best in the final round.
On Saturday, he was unable to complete his round. Therefore, he had to enter the field early on Sunday morning, to finish his final eight holes of the third round before he started off his final round of the event.
He had mixed emotions as he led the first three rounds of the tournament and Hoey snatched the victory on the final day.
"It was draining especially as I am not used to leading for three rounds but I managed to grab second on my own and while I am pleased with second, I am also a bit disappointed," he said.
Robert Coles, Jamie Donaldson and Phillip Price shared the third spot after carding a 13-under par 275 tournament score.
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