Big day for Lawrie but still €2,475 short of card spots
Rikard Carlsberg with the Italian Open. Picture Getty Images
Peter Lawrie produced his joint best performance of the season but remains outside the Top 110 in the Race to Dubai who will earn full playing rights for 2016 - by just €2,475.
Lawrie finished tied 14th thanks to a closing 68 in the72° OPEN D'ITALIA presented by DAMIANI — a computer glitch had him at 109th for a while — earning €21,650 which moved him up to 111th behind last man Anders Hansen with five regular season events remaining.
Having held on to his card with an epic performance in the final event in Australian in 2013, Lawrie lost his card at the end of last year but thanks to a huge number of sponsors invitations and 12 cheques from 24 starts this year, he's earned €187,296 or the probable €250,00 he will need to regain his card.
Lawrie's problem is the number of starts he can expect as the tour heads down the stretch and with players battling for survival and new players such as the Walker Cup stars and rookie pros looking to impress, invitations can be hard to come by.
Lawrie has not made the field for this week's Porsche European Open in Germany, but he should get one for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, where Paul Dunne has already secured a return to the scene of his Open Championship heroics for his European Tour debut. Entries
Dunne joins Walker Cup team mate Jack Hume at the First Stage of the European Tour Qualifying School in Austria tomorrow
Lawrie finished four shots outside a playoff that saw Sweden's Rikard Kalberg, beaten by Greg Bowen by two oles in the quarter-finals of the 2004 West of Ireland Amateur Championship, see off Martin Kaymer for his maiden European Tour win.
Kaymer had led by three shots on 21 under at one point but a disappointing back nine saw him finish alongside Karlberg, who had crept through the field with a 67, at 19 under.
Both men had parred the 18th all week and they did so again on the first play-off hole but Karlberg made birdie at the second attempt following a terrific approach over the trees to claim his first European Tour title.
The career-changing victory which moves him to 47th in The Race to Dubai and secures his playing rights on The European Tour until at least the end of 2017.
"It feels amazing to get my first win and it has been a pretty crazy year for me," Karlberg said. "I got married and now my wife is expecting twins in December! So to get my first win on Tour and to give myself such a huge boost in my career is pretty special.”
Pádraig Harrington shot four sub-par rounds, closing with a 67 to share 33rd on 12 under with 117 putts — fewer than 30 each day — a 10-stroke improvement on the KLM Open.
The Dubliner now takes a week off before playing the Alfred Dunhill Links, the British Masters and the Portugal Masters.
Paul McGinley share 63rd on seven under after a disappointing closing 73 while 2016 European captain Ryder Cup Darren Clarke withdrew with a wrist injury and now heads to the US for the "Year to go"celebrations.
Kevin Phelan, who is now 115th in the Race to Dubai, picks himself up after his missed cut in Italy and joins Micahel Hoey and Graeme McDowell in the Porsche European Open at Bad Giresbach in Bavaria.
The event is promoted by 4SPORTS's Dominic Senn, who will be representing Dunne as he takes his first steps as a professional.
