Australia’s Lucas Herbert secured his second European Tour title with a wire-to-wire victory in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.
Herbert took a one-shot lead into the final round at Mount Juliet and carded a closing 68 to finish on 19 under par, three shots clear of Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg.
The victory secured Herbert a place in the Open Championship at Royal St George’s, with Karlberg – who chipped in on the 18th for his third birdie in the last four holes – and third-placed American Johannes Veerman claiming the other two places on offer.
Birdies on the second and third had extended Herbert’s overnight lead to three shots, but the 25-year-old then bogeyed the fifth and did well to scramble for par on the seventh and eighth after wild tee shots into the trees.
Francesco Laporta’s sixth birdie in a row on the 10th briefly took him into a share of the lead and although Herbert birdied the same hole to edge back in front, birdies on the 10th and 14th lifted Veerman alongside Herbert on 17 under.
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However, Veerman then surprisingly hit an iron off the tee on the short par-four 15th and could only make par, while Herbert smashed his drive into a greenside bunker and got up and down for birdie.
Veerman’s bogey on the 16th gave Herbert some welcome breathing space and a birdie on the 17th effectively sealed the win.
Karlberg’s brilliant finish saw him snatch second place from Veerman, who bogeyed the last, with Laporta and Scotland’s Grant Forrest part of a five-way tie for fourth after both made costly double bogeys on the 18th.
