Coupland finishes T11 on European Tour debut

The Woodhall Spa and Boston Golf Club member scooped 24,510 Euros after four superb rounds at the Lyoness Open powered by Greenfinity.

The event, hosted by Austria’s Atzenbrugg Golf Club, saw Dave complete his four rounds on -7.

This was enough for him to finish level with Scott Jamieson (Scotland), Mike Lorenzo-Vera (France), Pedro Orio (Spain) and Richie Ramsey (Scotland).

Dave put a recent run of frustrating rounds behind him to finish Thursday’s opening round on 71, one below par.

He ensured he made the cut the following day with a round of 70.

Saturday’s 73-shot round was his least favourable score, but he made amends on Sunday with a five-under-par 67 to shoot into joint-11th place.

After completing his final round, Dave shared his joy on Twitter, writing: “Wow! Played great today and moved up, maybe a top 10? Fingers crossed. Thank you to everyone for their well wishes! I really appreciate it.”

England’s Chris Wood finished on -15 to take first place and a cheque for 250,000 Euros.

Dave qualified to compete at the European Tour event thanks to his successes on last year’s Challenge Tour, the continent’s second tier.

The Challenge Tour remains his bread and butter and he will return to action in the competition at the Najeti Open at Aa Saint-Omer Golf Club in Lumbres, France, on Thursday.

Dave will concentrate on the Challenge Tour over the next few weeks, but will hope to be able to play in two or three more European Tour events before the end of the year.

He now has a Race to Dubai ranking of 195.