GOOD THINGS come to those who wait. And so it proved for Forrest Little's Eoin Arthurs, who salved the wounds of umpteen disappointments with an impressive, four-stroke victory in the East of Ireland Amateur Open Championship here.
The 24-year-old former Boys International from Swords took advantage of a rare weekend away from his day job as a driving range operator and club-fitter to card rounds of 69 and 71 for a winning aggregate of six-under-par 282.
Overnight leader Dara Lernihan of Castle and Westport's Cathal O'Malley had to settle for a share of second on two-under-par 286 after respective final rounds of 73 and 74.
But no one could deny Arthurs his place in the record books and his right to consign the moniker "One-Round-Arthurs" to the dustbin of bad memories.
The Dubliner had flattered to deceive on a couple of occasions earlier this season after turning in headline-grabbing performances in the opening stages of the West of Ireland and Irish Amateur Open championships into mere footnotes. This time it was different.
After opening with a 66 on Friday to take a two-stroke lead, he followed up with a disappointing 76 on Saturday to fall three strokes behind the impressive Lernihan at halfway.
"One of the guys in the club said well done when I shot the 66 in the first round. But he told me that I had to go out and shoot another good score or I'd be remembered as One-Round-Arthurs," the champion recalled at the finish.
"When I shot 76, I thought, here we go again. But I got a pep talk from my girlfriend, Finola, and my caddie, Conor O'Toole, and I just went out there and played as well as I could."
Despite a tricky southeast wind, Arthurs cracked a third-round 69 on the sun-baked course to top the leaderboard by a stroke on five under par from Lernihan, and he never looked back as he fired four birdies and just three bogeys in a closing 71.
His long-range putting was excellent, and it was fitting he should clinch the championship with a brilliant 30-yarder that finished stone dead at the 18th for a closing birdie four.
What Irish Close and West of Ireland champion Shane Lowry would have given for a similar score is anyone's guess.
Ten shots behind starting the day, Lowry hit a morning 67 to get back to level par and then cruised to within a stroke of Arthurs' 54-hole total when he played the front nine in four-under-par 33.
After lipping out for birdie at the 10th, he bogeyed the 13th and felt he needed to go for the par-five 18th in two.
But he carved his three-wood approach out of bounds. After breaking the club in a momentary fit of anger, he apologised profusely. But he then bunkered his second attempt and closed with a triple-bogey eight for a level par 72 which relegated him to a tie for fifth place on level par 288.
Arthurs' father, John, looked set to collect a sizeable wager after putting €30 each way at 60 to 1.
But his son was still the happier of the two after a victory that opens the doors to Leinster interprovincial honours and a possible Irish senior cap later this season.
"It feels unbelievable. I'm over the moon," Arthurs said afterwards. "My ambitions this season were to win a title and play for Leinster and Ireland. I think I might be good for the Leinster team now. But I really want to play for Ireland again, and this is a great start."
