With a massive nine-stroke lead entering the final round, Kenneth Kearney didn't quite know how to respond in the AIB East of Ireland Stroke-play Championship at Baltray yesterday. But keen competitive instincts still guided him to a new aggregate record of 277 - 15 under par - and a six-stroke victory.
Kearney was unaware of the target of 278 set by Raymond Burns when he retained the title in 1993, but yesterday's final round of 75 was just enough to beat it by a stroke. And his closest challenger was Welshman Craig Williams, runner-up to Sergio Garcia in last year's British Amateur Championship.
"I'm thrilled; I can't believe it," said 31-year-old Kearney afterwards. "I consider it a great personal achievement to have won here as a real amateur." Given his occupation as manager of the Galway branch of the Irish Nationwide Building Society, this was a reference to the presence in the field of a number of full-time amateurs.
Kearney struck the first of two major blows to the remainder of the field when a second round of 66 on Sunday swept him six strokes clear of Gareth Bohill in second place. Then came a third round of 67 yesterday morning, extending his advantage to nine ahead of Olivier David of France. Williams was a stroke further back in third place.
Though he hardly dared imagine that the magic of Sunday might somehow return, Kearney knew something special was happening when he sank an eight-footer for a par on the first. "Going to the second tee, I realised that wonderful feeling was back," he said. "It meant I never put a foot wrong from then on."
After reaching the turn in 35 - two under par - he then reproduced the sort of back-nine form that had spread-eagled the field on Sunday. While carding birdies at the 10th, 12th, 15th and 18th, the longest putt he needed was from 10 feet at the 10th.
So to the final round and the completion of a masterly performance. With hardly a breath of wind, he maintained the arrow-straight driving which had characterised his earlier play. And even with the odd error, his short-game on and around medium-paced, receptive greens, remained admirably tidy.
Eventually, a scoreboard on the 16th tee told him he was eight strokes clear. "I didn't think I was that far ahead," he admitted afterwards. "It came as a relief, but I had never been that far ahead in a tournament before and I was still anxious to get the job done."
When 72 holes were completed with a careful, two-putt par at the long 18th, Kearney had carded a total of 21 birdies, one eagle, eight bogeys and 42 pars. Kearney, who will now be playing off plus-four, was winning his third important championship, having previously captured the West of Ireland in 1992 and the Irish Close two years ago.
From a competitive standpoint, the only real excitement of the afternoon centred on the battle for second place between David and Williams. And it could be said that Williams won the other tournament, after a final round of 71 which contained four birdies.
Bohill, the 20-year-old local four-handicapper who got into championship only as a last-minute reserve, did himself proud, despite the pressure of playing with Kearney for the last 36 holes. With a final round of 73, he secured the Jo Carberry Cup for a best nett aggregate of 279 over 72 holes.
