‘Amazing’ Irish Open for Foster

The Worksop golfer shared fifth place in Northern Ireland, his best finish of the season so far, as he went 13 under par for the tournament.

His total of 275 was just five shots off winner Jamie Donaldson, but Foster was in a positive frame of mind after his final round alongside Irishman Pádraig Harrington.

Speaking after playing in front of 30,000 on Sunday, he said: “(It was) second to none.”

“Playing in The Open I played with Ernie when he was defending on a Sunday, which was pretty similar, so I’ve had two amazing experiences now.”

“I would say crowd-wise, this was bigger.”

A great opening round of 66 included seven birdies and put him into a share of third place going into the second round.

Day two brought a faultless 67 with five birdies and no dropped shots, moving him into second on the leaderboard.

With the weather hampering players, Foster shot a one-over-par round of 73 on Saturday and was still in the top three going into the final day.

He had a steady start on Sunday with eight straight pars, before the fireworks started.

A superb long putt gave him an eagle on the ninth, he followed with a birdie at 10 and a triple bogey at the par three 12th.

The final six holes produced four birdies and a bogey to close with a 69.

“I played good enough to win, which a lot of people will go away saying, but it was an amazing experience out there,” he added.

Foster and Lee Westwood are in Paris this week for the Alstrom Open de France, at Le Golf National.