Northern Ireland Open: US player Tyler Koivisto holds nerve to win on European Challenge Tour debut

US player Tyler Koivisto produced an admirably composed final round to clinch a two-shot Northern Ireland Open triumph on his Challenge Tour debut.

Three ahead overnight, the 27-year-old Minnesotan was never caught on the final day as he finished two ahead of Norway's Kristian Krogh Johannessen.

Koivisto's closing three-under-par 67 left him on 13 under at Galgorm Castle.

England's Andrew Wilson and Sweden's Jens Fahrbring shared third place three shots off the pace.

For much of the final round, Darlington native Wilson was Koivisto's closest challenger as his two birdies in his opening seven holes cut the American's lead to only a shot.

But after parring his opening nine holes in Faldoesque fashion, Koivisto began his back nine with birdies at the 10th and 11th to regain firm control of the event.

Johannessen birdied three of his final four holes to again cut the Mid-Western man's lead to the minimum but Koivisto refused to buckle at the par-five last as a birdie completed his two-shot success.

Koivisto hadn't played in Europe at all before a Tour School outing in Austria last autumn.

That appearance led to him receiving a late invitation to play in the Galgorm Spa & Golf Resort event which was added to the Challenge Tour schedule following financial backing from the R&A.

After travelling from the US, Koivisto took control of the 200,000 Euro event by firing a best-of-the-week 62 on Saturday and was not be denied on Sunday.

"It's very special," said Koivisto, who had never before played in an event with world ranking points but will find himself around 500th when they are updated on Monday.

"Golfing wise, probably the best week of my life. For my wife, our wedding, obviously, was the best week of my life.

"They called me up last week and asked me if I could fly to Northern Ireland and I said yes, I'm going to take any opportunity I can get."

Koivisto was on a golf scholarship at St Cloud State University during his collegiate days before beginning a teaching career in the US.

However, he gave up teaching his fourth graders two years ago to pursue a career as a golfer and operated largely on mini tours in the US before exploring the notion of coming to Europe last year.

Sweden's Bjorn Hellgren and Iceland's Gudmundur Kristjansson shared fifth place on nine under with Spain's Santiago Tarrio, joint second going into the last day, dropping back to finish tied seventh with South Africa's Garrick Higgo.

Whitehead man John Ross Galbraith remained on his overnight position of four under after the most eventful of closing level-par 70s as he finished top Irishman.

Six adrift at the start of play, Galbraith's slim hopes of challenging the leader were dealt a huge blow by an immediate double bogey but he battled back well with five birdies and a closing eagle three which left him in a share of 19th place.

Of the other Irish, Niall Kearney shared 23rd spot after a 69 left him on two under while Conor O'Rourke's disappointing weekend continued as a second successive 79 left him on 17 over par and the last of the players who made the cut.

The European Challenge Tour event was the first of two big tournaments at the Galgorm Spa & Golf Resort venue in Ballymena with the Irish Open being staged there from 24-27 September.