GOLF /Mullingar Scratch Cup: Athlone's Colm Moriarty showed why he will be one of Garth McGimpsey's ace cards in next month's Walker Cup when he won the Mullingar Scratch Cup in wonderful style yesterday.

The 24-year-old constructed a five-under-par final round of 67 for a 13-under-par total of 275 and a one-shot win over Stackstown's Mark Campbell which was more comfortable than the numbers would suggest.

A professional career beckons for Moriarty, and on the evidence of his play over 72 holes at the midland venue he has the temperament to make a success of the enterprise.

Trailing Campbell by a shot at the start of the day, he shot a 70 to the Stackstown man's 74 in the morning to take a one-shot lead over Greenore's John McGinn into the final round, and held on to it with some wonderfully controlled golf.

Moriarty led on eight under par, with a posse of players, including Noel Fox, Alastair McKinley, Alan Dowling and Campbell, lurking on six under.

But three birdies in the first six holes helped him open a three-shot lead over McGinn, with Campbell five shots back on six under, and he never looked back.

Campbell, though, played superbly all afternoon and birdied the sixth, eighth and ninth to turn in eight-under-par, just three adrift of Moriarty and one behind McGinn.

The deciding moment came at the 480-yard, par-five 14th, where Moriarty played a five-iron from 196 yards in the left rough that pitched a foot from the flag, setting up a simple, two-putt birdie that neither McGinn nor Campbell could match.

Three shots clear with four to play, Moriarty flipped a wedge to inches at the long 16th for his fifth birdie of the afternoon to maintain his cushion going down the final stretch.

Campbell and McGinn were still three shots back, but although the Stackstown player birdied the 17th from 12 feet to keep his chances alive to the end, it was never more than an outside chance.

At the par five 18th, Moriarty gave him a glimmer of hope when he pulled his second shot 30 yards left onto the third green. But Campbell got a poor lie just inches off the fairway, mishit his approach and failed to chip in from short of the green after Moriarty had played a delightful bump and run that finished just six feet away in three.

In the end Campbell had to settle for a birdie four and a closing 66 as McGinn made par for a 69 to finish third on 10-under-par. Moriarty had two for the title and duly took them.

"I threw the kitchen sink at him but Colm played super," Campbell said. "But I only parred the 14th twice today and you are left kicking yourself because it's the easiest par five on the course."

Moriarty was simply delighted to finish his last individual event in amateur golf on a high note as fellow Walker Cup player Fox carded a closing 69 to finish along in fourth place on nine under.

He said: "It's really special feeling. When Noel and myself got the call up on Sunday it was really hard to focus on golf. But I played very solid and thought if I could shoot 66 I'd definitely win. I shot 67 and it was enough."