The old war horse folded his arms, and with a whimsical smile, confessed he had probably adopted the wrong strategy. "Do you know, maybe I was watching Monty too much," said Eamonn Darcy. The irony was that he emerged best from that head-to-head duel with Colin Montgomerie, but Darcy's eventual tied-fourth finish in the Murphy's Irish Open at Druids Glen yesterday still constituted a fine contribution to the championship.
As touring professional of the host club, Darcy had entered the tournament with more pressure than any player to produce the goods. "There was definitely added pressure on me. I felt it, even though the crowds were fantastic, and it'll be so much easier on me going away from here to another venue next year," he claimed, before adding: "Still, I've made quite a few people around these parts happy - they got me at 8 to 1 to be leading Irish player."
Darcy, in fact, finished some eight shots behind the winner Sergio Garcia, but his final round of 70 for eight-under-par 276 enabled him to share fourth position alongside Denmark's Thomas Bjorn and Spain's Miguel Angel Martin.
Yet, the finish was his best of the season - to date - and earned him enough money to guarantee his tour card for next year. Indeed, the 47-year-old Irishman's cheque for £42,466 was the biggest of his career and almost doubled his season's earnings, enabling him to jump from 92nd position in the Order of Merit up to 53rd.
He had shown signs of good form in May when he finished tied-fifth at the French Open and seventh at the Benson and Hedges International in successive weeks but that form deserted him in subsequent tournaments where he went 71st-missed cut-62nd missed cut until rediscovering his best form of all over familiar terrain.
The key to Darcy's strong challenge was unquestionably his putting. "Yeah, it was good," he said. "I made some really great long putts especially." In fact, his only three-putt yesterday came at the third, just after he'd holed a 12-footer for birdie at the second, but he wasn't to drop another shot until his final hole. "It was a disappointing way to finish. I played the wrong approach shot. I tried to hammer a five iron when I should have gone with a four," he said.
The result was that the ball was pulled left into the crowds and, although he played a lovely chip shot to five feet, the par putt failed to drop. "I knew that putt across the slope so well, but it just jumped a little on me," said Darcy.
Darcy's three birdies came at the second, fifth and 14th holes - the longest putt being from 12 feet at the second - as he outscored playing companion Montgomerie by a shot over the closing round. "I knew it was important to keep an eye on Monty, but others were making bigger strides. Overall, I'm happy with this championship and the way I played. I hung in there all week, so I have to be pleased with that."
Certainly, it was a fine performance from Darcy, but the other two Irish players to survive into the weekend, Des Smyth and Richard Coughlan, failed to ignite in the same way.
Smyth was philosophical about a closing round of 73 for two-under-par 282. "Nothing happened for me," he said.
After bogeying the second and third, and "fuming" walking to the fourth, Smyth might have felt his round was back on track when his eight iron approach of 169 yards at the fourth popped into the hole for a two. "I played very solid golf after that, finding the fairways and finding the greens, but I wasn't able to sink a putt," he said.
His prospects of a bigger payday, however, were hit by his three-wood tee-shot at the 15th which found a fairway bunker. The ball was just inside the trap and well below his feet. He positioned himself on the fairway and "gambled" with a six-iron recovery in his attempt to clear the lake. It plunged into the water, though, and the resultant six "spoiled my day," he conceded.
For Coughlan, the only other Irishman to survive the cut, the championship ended disappointingly when he finished with a final round 79 for 13 over par 297 which left him propping up the field, a shot behind John Daly.
