Irish golfer pulls off historic St Rule Trophy triumph at St Andrews

Lanigan, a member of Hermitage Golf Club on the outskirts of Dublin, earned her place in the record books after pulling off a wire-to-wire win in an event won in the past by Annika Sorenstam and Catriona Matthew.

In Saturday’s opening two rounds on the New Course, Lanigan followed an opening 68 with an afternoon 67 to lead by three shots from French challenger Ines Archer.

As Archer fell away in the closing circuit after making an eagle at the second, Lanigan never really looked as though she was going to be threatened by anyone in the chasing pack.

Mixing eight birdies with five bogeys, she signed off with a 73 to finish with an 18-under-par total, winning by four shots from Dane Anna Behnsen (72-70-70). “It’s a dream to win at the home of golf,” admitted Lanigan.

Scotland’s Freya Russell (Royal Troon) and Sheridan Clancy, who is based in Australia, shared third spot on 12 under after both carded 72s on the final day.

Finishing alongside three others on 11 under, England’s Charlotte Naughton (Longhirst Hall) won The Lawson Trophy as the leading under-18 competitor for a third time, pipping local player Abigail May (St Regulus Ladies) by a shot.

Meanwhile, Holmes held off a gutsy last-day challenge from Dane Mads Heller at Gailes Links to become the third English player in a row and sixth in seven years to win the Scottish Men’s Open.

Helped by carding a course-record nine-under-par 62 in the second round, Royal Birkdale member Holmes held a three-shot lead at the halfway stage in one of Scottish Golf’s marquee events.

That cushion was down to just a couple of shots after he added a 72 in the third round while, at the same time, Heller stormed up the leaderboard on the back of a 67.

In a thrilling finish, Heller closed to within a shot of the leader after reeling off three birdies on the trot from the 15th, However, Holmes gave himself some welcome breathing space again thanks to a birdie at the par-4 17th.

Signing off with a 68, which matched Heller’s closing effort, he posted an aggregate of 12 under, winning by two shots from Heller, with local man Calum Nairn (Prestwick St Cuthbert) producing a career-best performance to claim third spot on seven under.

On the DP World Tour, Japan’s Kota Kaneko secured his maiden title with an impressive two-shot victory in the Austrian Alpine Open presented by Kitzbühel Tirol.

The 23-year-old, who topped last season's Japan Golf Tour Order of Merit to earn his DP World Tour ticket for this season, carded a three-under closing round of 67 to finish on 18-under-par at Golfclub Kitzbühel-Schwarzsee-Reith, winning by from Portugal’s Ricardo Gouveia and American Davis Bryant.

“I can't believe it,” admitted Kaneko, who, on the back of also finishing second in last week’s Soudal Open in Belgium, is up to 11th in the Race to Dubai Rankings. “I didn't think I would win and I'm still very surprised.”

Grant Forrest finished as the top Scot in joint-12th on 12 under, one ahead of Calum Hill and Ewen Ferguson as they also secured top-20 spots.