Calum Hill's closing eagle worth £7,500 as Scot ties for tenth in Munich

Calum Hill signed off with an eagle worth £7,500 as he surprised even himself by finishing in the top ten in the BMW International Open in his first outing after picking up a back injury.

Calum Hill chars to his caddie Phil 'Wobb;y Mobley during the BMW International Open at Golfclub Munchen Eichenried in Germany. Picture: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images.

Three weeks after he’d been forced to withdraw at the halfway stage in the European Open in Hamburg, Hill’s return to DP World Tour action back in Germany proved successful and profitable as he picked up a cheque for just over £30,000.

The 28-year-old had been annoyed about running up a double-bogey in the final round, but a smile was back on his face after he’d hit a 5-wood to around five feet at the par-5 18th at Golfclub München Eichenried and rolled in the eagle putt.

“It’s made me a bit happier after having a bit of a fud around 15 - it’s good,” said Hill after signing for a 70 to finish on eight-under-par, which earned a share of tenth spot behind South African Triston Lawrence. “I faded a 5-wood and it went to five feet - perfect!”

Hill, who was treated by renowned Fife-based physio Stuart Barton after being struck by a bulging disc, finished two shots ahead of Connor Syme and three in front of Bob MacIntyre after they both closed with 72s.

“Yeah, it’s nice,” he added of chalking up his best finish since securing third spot in the ISPS Handa Championship in Japan in April, with this pleasing effort coming in his first week with the experienced Phil ‘Wobbly’ Morbey back on his bag for a second spell. “It’s not something I would have expected as I’m still feeling wary about the back and it gave me a little bit of bother from 13 onwards today. But, other than that, delighted.

“It wasn’t the best ball-striking today, but the pace control with my putting was really good. From any range, I was hitting them to tap-in distance and they all had a chance, so the putter was really good today.”

Between now and teeing up in the Betfred British Masters at The Belfry on Thursday, Hill will not not be over-doing it. “It’s just a case of rest,” he said. “Take it easy, see the physios, not over practice and keep taking the Ibuprofen!”

Syme, who made the first hole-in-one as a tour professional at the second in the penultimate round after starting with a triple-bogey 7, finished joint-14th after mixing two birdies with two bogeys in a less colourful closing effort.

“Yeah, absolutely,” he said of feeling pleased to have holed a tester for a birdie at the last. “I really didn’t have my best stuff today, so it was nice to score in a different way and, overall, it was a positive week.”

MacIntyre’s mixed bag of four birdies and four bogeys to finish left him in a tie for 18th. “Ach, today was just one of those days I didn’t have it,” he said. “I didn’t feel comfortable on the golf course and I got a fair few bad breaks when I hit it off line. It didn’t seem to fall for me today, but that’s just golf.

“If there’s probably a week I wanted bad luck to hit me rather than good luck, it was maybe this week with the run that is coming up.”