Rose closes with 65, finishes 4th

Justin Rose fired a closing five-under-par 65 to finish fourth on his Challenge Tour debut in Austria.

In a week when he made his first cut as a professional - Rose had missed 20 on the European PGA Tour following his sensational fourth place finish at last year's Open Championship - he also collected his first cheque for £2,681.

Rose's 13-under-par 267 was four strokes out of a play-off between Juan Ciola of Switzerland and New Zealand's Elliot Boult.

That particular contest went to two extra holes before Ciola holed from five feet for a birdie three to take the top prize of just under £9,000.

"It's been a good week," Rose said. "That's my lowest 72 hole total and I've never finished 13 under before. I knew I had to shoot low today to stand any chance, something like a 63. But even that wouldn't have been good enough.

"Still I'm thrilled to have finished fourth and hopefully I would have played the same if it had been a main tour event."

In perfect conditions most of the field reaped birdies from the hilly course but Rose, who began the day five shots behind Boult, took some time to get into his stride.

He had problems at the short third, three-putting from 15 feet for a bogey four but a huge slice of luck gave his round a kick-start.

At the 449-yard fifth, his drive was heading for the out of bounds when it struck a tree and bounced back on to the fairway. A seven-iron to the green left him with a 35-foot putt, which he holed for an outrageous birdie-three.

Rose then holed two more birdie putts to go out in 33 but he was still five behind. The 18-year-old from Hampshire, playing at the Moroccan Open in Agadir this week since there is no Challenge Tour event, found three more birdies in a homeward 32.

Sporting Life