East of Ireland Championship:Richard Kilpatrick's penultimate shot in the East of Ireland Championship at County Louth Golf Club encapsulated the manner of his victory. Standing over a good lie in the rough on the par-five 18th, he was faced with a 210-yard carry over a bunker to the sanctuary of the green.

He struck his four-iron "pure", the ball coming to rest three feet from the flag. Given his prowess with the blade for the entire tournament, the eagle putt was a formality.

His 13-under-par total spread-eagled the field and earned him an eight-shot winning margin, tying the second largest behind JB Carr's 10-stroke victory in 1956.

The 25-year-old from Banbridge shot rounds of 71 and 68 over yesterday's closing 36 holes - he had begun the day six shots clear - and his win reinforces the form that had seen him finish second in the Irish Amateur Strokeplay Championship and tie for sixth at the Brabazon Trophy.

It represented a reward for the hard work he put in while practising in Lake Nona, Florida, during the winter. He ascribed his game's rude health to the time spent in the company of British Open winner Ben Curtis, Maarten Lafaeber, Trevor Immelman and Graeme McDowell during his time in America.

"They are all proven winners," Kilpatrick pointed out. "Those guys are not that far ahead of us, but they do things much better from 100 yards in and that's the only difference. You learn from that. You realise they're not that much better and if you work hard you get the rewards. It gives you a real good sense of confidence.

"I was very calm. I was just glad to get a monkey off my back; I was due one. I have had a lot of semi-finals, second and third places, just haven't had the breakthrough, but now that I have I hope it will lead on to better things.

"I wanted to give golf a go and it was the only place you could go over the winter to get good weather and practice. I didn't want to look back in 10 years and wonder what if . . ."

His form hasn't gone unnoticed, a fact confirmed by Ireland's representative on the Walker Cup selection panel, Mark Gannon. "He's definitely a player worth looking at. He was in serious contention at the Brabazon Trophy and we got a few of the Walker Cup selectors to look at him. He played on every team I was captain of for three years.

"He's a very good player and better now than he was then. He's obviously matured and they were very impressed by him."

Kilpatrick has his own set of priorities, but wouldn't turn down the opportunity to play Walker Cup at Royal County Down later in the year.

He smiled: "If Walker Cup comes along, it comes along. My goal at the end of the year is (European Tour) Q school and I'm trying to get ready for that. Walker Cup would be brilliant, but you have to take it one week at a time.

"I want to try and get a Challenge Tour card or European Tour card, and if anything else comes along, great. I'm just going to try and peak at tour school."

While slightly miffed at his morning 71, he was the picture of serenity in the afternoon despite taking bogey at the first.

Any chink of light for his pursuers was quickly blocked out on the third hole when he hit his three-iron from 237 yards over the flag to 35 feet and from the back apron chipped in for eagle.

Local golfer and Walker Cup panellist Simon Ward (20), offered the following tribute.

"Richard is playing unbelievable golf. I played with him on Saturday and that 66 he had was unbelievable in the rain; everything was straight down the flag. It was class."

275 - R Kilpatrick (Banbridge) 70 66 71 68.

283 - S Ward (Co Louth) 70 74 70 69.

284 - S Lowry (Esker Hills) 71 71 73 69.

286 - N Grant (Knock) 71 72 75 68.

288 - J Caldwell (Clandeboye) 73 74 68 73, D Lernihan (Castle) 73 71 73 71.

290 - G McDermott (Co Sligo) 77 74 71 68, S Grant (Birr) 76 71 70 73.

292 - M Sinclair (Knock) 76 74 70 72, R Boal (Scrabo) 76 73 71 72, G Lawlor (Citywest) 74 76 73 69, D Sutton (Lockerbie) 74 73 74 71, S Crowe (Dunmurry) 72 73 78 69.

293 - E Arthurs (Forrest Little) 78 72 72 71, D Rawluk (The Island) 75 76 72 70, P Murray (Limerick) 69 73 77 74.

294 - C Curley (Newlands) 75 74 76 69, G Carew (Edenderry) 73 72 73 76.

295 - F Rafferty (Dungannon) 80 68 71 76.

296 - M Lavelle (K Club) 77 73 75 71, A Dunbar (Rathmore) 76 72 79 69, G Bohill (Co Louth) 76 72 72 76, N O'Connor (Elm Park) 72 74 73 77.

297 - D Morgan (Mullingar) 78 74 74 71, A Pitcher (The Island) 74 72 77 74.

298 - A Hogan (Newlands/UCD) 79 71 74 74, D O'Brien (Laytown & Bettystown) 78 73 77 70, C Doran (Banbridge) 76 73 76 73, E O'Sullivan (The Island) 75 75 76 72, N Kearney (Royal Dublin) 74 74 75 75, A Glynn (Porters Park) 73 76 74 75, E McCormack (Galway) 71 76 77 74, D Finn (Mallow) 69 79 77 73.

299 - H Diamond (Holywood) 79 72 74 74, G McGrane (Royal Dublin) 77 74 74 74, A McCloy (Ballymena) 75 75 74 75, D O'Donovan (Muskerry) 74 77 71 77, C Martin (Kilkenny) 73 76 75 75.

301 - R Cannon (Laytown & Bettystown) 76 76 76 73, M Brett (Portmarnock) 75 74 77 75, G Reid (Spa) 75 72 77 77, A McCormick (Scrabo) 71 76 76 78.

302 - S Loftus (Ennis) 80 72 76 74, T Cleary (Cork) 77 74 76 75, D McInerney (Lahinch) 75 76 77 74.

303 - A O'Callaghan (Douglas) 76 74 79 74.

305 - E McAnoy (Knock) 79 73 75 78.

310 - D Coyne (Tuam) 75 76 80 79.

311 - S Shaw (Lisburn) 77 75 80 79.

312 - D Joyce (Curragh) 77 75 82 78.