It has been a fine fall for John Catlin. The former University of New Mexico player birdied three of his final four holes on Sunday to win the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open. He rose seven spots on the leaderboard with his final-round 64 at Galgorm Golf Resort in Northern Ireland on a day when the players he was chasing couldn’t seem to get anything going.
Third-round leader Aaron Rai finished second after a closing even-par 70. Jazz Janewattananond and Maverick Antcliff tied for third at 7 under.
Catlin then joined Rai at the top with an 18-footer for birdie on No. 15. He stuck his approach to four feet at the next and made the putt to get to 9 under.
The third birdie, the one that sealed the win, came at the par-5 18th, where Catlin hit the green in two and two-putted as Rai bogeyed the 18th from a tough lie on his second shot.
Scores: Dubai Duty Free Irish Open
Catlin, 29, also won the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters earlier this month. He had to hold off two-time major winner Martin Kaymer to do so.
He also made headlines in August when he was removed from the English Championship field after he and his caddie dined outside of that week’s tournament bubble.
Catlin is a four time winner on the Asian Tour but entered this season without full playing privileges after finishing 155th on the 2019 Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex. Now, only Catlin, Rasmus Hojgaard and Sam Horsfield have won multiple European Tour titles in 2020.
Interestingly, only two other Americans have won this event before Catlin. Ben Crenshaw won in 1976 and Hubert Green followed with his title the next year.
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