GOLF NEWS: South of Ireland Championship-winner Colm Moriarty may already have impressed Ireland selectors with his win over Seán McTernan at the 19th hole at Lahinch on Wednesday. However, on Sunday he will line up in the Friends First-sponsored Mullingar Scratch Cup not just as one of the favourites to win the competition but also as defending champion.
Few will forget last year's final round in the weather-reduced championship as the Athlone golfer stood on the final tee three shots behind Noel Fox, who in his second round had posted a stunning 12-under-par 60 for an amateur record. But with a final five-hole birdie finish Moriarty overhauled the Portmarnock player with a final round of 63 for a nine-under-par total and a five-stroke win.
If the 23-year-old international can retain the trophy at the end of the two-day event, Sunday and Monday, he will become the first player since Pete Townsend, in 1965 and 1966, to successfully defend his title.
Like Lahinch, the Mullingar club has been working on lengthening the course and toughening it up a little for the 96-player field.
The fairways will be tighter than usual, with Irish selectors hoping to shape a course similar to that where the world Cup will be played in Kuala Lumpur on October 24th-27th.
But Moriarty will not have it all his own way and he will face many of the top amateurs around.
East of Ireland champion Fox will again be a dangerous presence while Tandragee's Stuart Paul, winner of the West of Ireland at Rosses Point, is also in the draw. Ken Kearney (Roscommon), Justin Kehoe (Birr), Tim Rice (Limerick), Andrew McCormack (Scrabo), Michael McDermott (Stackstown), Gavin McNeil (Waterford) and Irish champion John McGinn (Greenore) also add to what is a highly competitive field.
