EDDIE Pepperell was forced to settle for a share of fourth place at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.

The Abingdon golfer birdied the final three holes of his at Lahinch on Saturday to card a four-under-par 66.

That saw him start today’s final round just a shot off the lead.

But the Frilford Heath member was only able to shoot a one-under 69 and finished three shots behind Jon Rahm, who hit a 64 and 62 over the weekend to record a memorable success.

Pepperell made a slow start today with bogeys at the second and fourth.

A birdie at the sixth put him back into the mix, but he was unable to make any inroads on the leaders with five successive pars.

He moved to 12-under with a birdie at the par-five 12th and then after a further five pars, a birdie at the 18th saw hime climb to a three-way share of fourth.