England’s Simon Dyson won the Irish Open in dramatic fashion on Sunday as he held off a ferocious challenge from Australia’s Richard Green to take the title by one shot. Dyson carded a four under par 67 to finish on 15 under for the tournament and that was enough to secure the fifth title of his career. The 33-year-old finished his round tied with Green at the top of the leaderboard and he had to endure a nervous wait to see if the Australian would win the trophy with a birdie on the 18th hole or at least force a play-off with a par.
Green had led by one shot on several occasions during the final round, only to crack at the last hole as a bogey dropped him to 14 under and gifted Dyson his first title since his triumph at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship two years ago. Dyson took the first prize of over £221,000 ($362,837) a fortnight after finishing ninth in the British Open – an event he went into as fifth reserve less than a week before it started. “It’s a shame you can’t bottle how you feel sometimes,” Dyson said.
“It’s amazing, it really is. The golf I’ve played this week is probably the best I’ve ever played. “I knew I could cut with the guys in the majors and I was thinking if I keep swinging it as I am I’m going to give myself chances.