IRISH AMATEUR CLOSE CHAMPIONSHIP:PAT MURRAY has been knocking on the door for some time, but yesterday at the Golfsure Irish Amateur Close Championship in Enniscrone the Limerick man finally tasted victory on the big stage after a tremendous display of course management at the west Sligo links .
After nearly two decades at the business end of Irish amateur golf, Murray’s first championship victory came at the hands of two Newlands players – he beat Andrew Hogan in the semi-final and then saw off the challenge of Cian Curley in the final yesterday afternoon.
Indeed, his performance in the final was particularly flawless, as he negotiated the 14 holes required to beat Curley without dropping a stroke.
“I’m shocked – that’s the only way to describe it,” he said after his victory. “I’ve been threatening a lot over the years – a lot of near misses and close calls. But it’s all worth it now anyway, that’s for sure.”
Indeed, particularly satisfying for Murray was the manner in which he clinched the match, with a concession birdie at the par-five 14th after blazing a magnificent two iron from 240 yards into the breeze to within 20 feet.
“That was absolutely fantastic. I was delighted with that. I played really well the whole week. I’ve just been solid – I couldn’t complain at all during the week with my game. It got better, too, as the week went on so I felt really good today.
“The course has been great,” he continued. “It’s a really tough course, so I knew whoever made the fewest mistakes would win. My game plan the whole week was just to keep it solid, and it really paid off.
“This afternoon I just wanted to keep the mistakes to a minimum. To go around without a bogey was just fantastic.
“It was just a case of trying to hit the fairway, and then the green and not get too ahead of myself. You won’t lose too many holes making pars around here.”
Murray had taken the initiative early on, going three up after five before Curley struck a blow of his own at the par-four six with a sensational long iron to two feet.
However, the Newlands man missed from five feet for another birdie at the seventh, and when Murray clinched the ninth with a par he was three up once more.
At that stage, the Limerick veteran showed his steel with cast-iron pars at the 10th, 11th and 12th to retain his advantage, before the decisive turn came at the par-four 13th. Both players drove into the grassy hollow short of the green, with Curley playing out first 30 feet over the flag. However, when he got down to the ball, he realised to his horror it bore Murray’s markings, meaning an automatic loss for the Dubliner.
Four up standing on the 14th tee, Murray produced a tremendous tee shot, and when Curley’s ball got caught in the left rough, the advantage was well and truly with the leader.
“That was the end of it really there,” Murray said of the 13th. “I caught a huge tee shot up the 14th after that, and I knew I was reaching it then. Cian’s ball just got caught in the rough so I knew he couldn’t make it.”
Curley played out to within 160 yards of the green, but Murray’s stroke of class with his two iron more or less settled the matter.
Curley provided one more piece of entertainment for the galleries after his third shot came up short of the green. He threw his pitch up into the bank 30 feet behind the hole, and watched as it slowly trickled down towards the hole.
Willed on by the gallery, it narrowly missed and went six feet past.
When he missed the return for par, Murray – who had rolled his eagle putt to four feet – had finally clinched the title.
Earlier on in the semi-final, Murray had hammered Hogan by 6 and 5, while Curley had clinched a back-and-forth battle with Moyola Park’s Paul O’Kane on the final green.
CLOSE CHAMPIONSHIP, Enniscrone: Semi-finals: Cian Curley (Newlands) bt Paul O’Kane (Moyola Park) 1 hole; Pat Murray (Limerick) bt Andrew Hogan (Newlands) 6 and 5. Final: Murray bt Curley 5 and 4.
