Mullingar Scratch Cup: The prodigious strength of today's generation of golfer is such that traditional par fours, if they're not driveable, at least tempt players to get as close to the green as is humanly possible.
Yesterday such a temptation proved to be Rory McIlroy's downfall, as he lost out to fellow Ulster player Gareth Shaw at the third hole of sudden death in a superbly contested Mullingar Scratch Cup that provided a snapshot of the future.
Having not dropped a shot in the preceding 38 holes of near-pristine golf, the 16-year-old prodigy finally succumbed to human frailty at the third hole of the play-off, where a wayward drive into a cluster of nettles forced McIlroy to take a penalty drop that eventually resulted in a bogey.
To ease the pain somewhat, Shaw rolled in a six-foot birdie putt to secure a win that enabled him to add the country's premier scratch cup to the North of Ireland title he collected a fortnight ago.
On a gloriously sunny day, with barely a puff of wind, the two teenagers effectively turned the tournament into their own wee battle. At the end of regulation play, Shaw's second-round 64 and McIlroy's second successive 67 left them tied on 10-under-par 134, three shots clear of their closest challenger, Aengus McAllister, with local player Des Morgan, who had been in the thick of the hunt until a couple of three-putts, a further shot back in fourth.
"It feels good to win, when you look at the names already engraved on the trophy," remarked Shaw, a 19-year-old from Lurgan who is in college at East Tennessee in the US. "Hopefully there are bigger and better things to come (in my career), but I'll take it one step at a time."
Although this year's event was reduced to 36 holes, rather than its customary 72, the quality of golf was in no way diluted. After the first round, the lead was held by Morgan and Mark O'Sullivan.
However, as they slipped back in the afternoon, Shaw and McIlroy - playing in groups three apart but kept aware of what was happening in each other's matches - played scintillating golf that left them inseparable at the end.
Shaw's eight-under-par 64 was his lowest round to par and constituted a course record, as the back nine have been upgraded since Greg Bowden's win last year. But it's a record that will last only a year as next year's course will have been further extended, with upgrading of the front nine now due to take place.
Still, Shaw's exceptional feat could have been even better as he failed to birdie the 14th and 18th holes, both par fives, and also included an out-of-bounds on the 13th.
Otherwise, it was a flawless display from Shaw who had nine birdies, including four-in-a-row from the third, a hat-trick from the eighth, another on the 12th and a final birdie on the 16th.
"I must admit, I didn't see this round coming. I'd played terrible in my practice round and my first-round 70 was as good as it could be," he remarked with youthful honesty.
When the dust had settled, though, it all came down to a play-off between two players who seem destined for great things. The first play-off hole, the first hole, was halved in pars; the second play-off hole, the ninth, was halved in birdies, where both holed from inside three feet.
So they returned to the first, a par four of 338 yards.
McIlroy, hitting first, pulled his drive into a cluster of wild vegetation. "I was trying to get the ball up the slope and I just came into it," he explained.
He was forced to take a penalty drop, then his recovery came up just short of the putting surface.
Shaw, meanwhile, played his approach to six feet. When McIlroy failed with his long par attempt, he opted to finish out for his only bogey of the day and Shaw fittingly sank the birdie putt to claim the silverware.
134 - G Shaw (Lurgan) 70 64 (won on 3rd play-off hole), R McIlroy (Holywood) 67 67.
137 - A McAllister (Portmarnock) 70 67.
138 - D Morgan (Mullingar) 66 72.
139 - P O'Keeffe (Douglas) 71 68.
140 - M McGinley (Grange) 72 68.
141 - R Cannon (Balbriggan) 71 70, G Massey (Hermitage) 67 74, M O'Sullivan (Galway) 66 75.
142 - J Carvill (Warrenpoint) 74 68, D Crowe (Dunmurry) 71 71.
143 - B McElhinney (North West) 73 70, J McDermott (Stackstown) 70 73, B O'Connor (Hermitage) 69 74.
144 - D Kelleher (Portmarnock) 73 71, S Crowe (Dunmurry) 73 71, R McCarthy (The Island) 73 71, P McDonald (Woodbrook) 72 72, T Nolan (Galway) 72 72, G Hall (Edenderry) 72 72, J Fox (Portmarnock) 71 73, A Morrow (Portmarnock) 71 73.
145 - M Owens (Mallow) 73 72, J Moore (L'town & B'town) 72 73, C Doran (Banbridge) 70 75, K O'Neill (Strandhill) 69 76.
146 - K Fahey (Connemara) 74 72, C O'Malley (Westport) 73 73, D Moran (The Island) 73 73, A Condren (Greystones) 72 74, B McSweeney (Woodbrook) 72 74. 147 - B Trainor (Warrenpoint) 77 70, E McAnoy (Knock) 77 70, K Kearney (Roscommon) 75 72, G Nugent (Kilkenny) 74 73, A Pitcher (The Island) 72 75, D Carroll (Grange) 72 75, M McGeady (North West) 71 76, C Cunningham (Mullingar) 70 77. 148 - M McTernan (Co Sligo) 76 72, E O'Sullivan (The Island) 74 74, J Morris (Mullingar) 74 74, R Leonard (Banbridge) 74 74, S Carter (Mountrath) 72 76. 149 - P Devine (The Island) 79 70, G Mallon (North West) 75 74, A Dowling (Hermitage) 75 74, G Bowden (Hermitage) 75 74, J Hughes (Douglas) 74 75. 150 - D Coyle (Co Louth) 76 74, B Walton (The Island) 76 74, T Bourke (Strandhill) 75 75, G Carew (Edenderry) 73 77, J McGinn (L'town & B'town) 73 77. 151 - S Grant (Birr) 77 74, D O'Brien (L'town & B'town) 76 75, J Lyons (Galway) 76 75, S O'Flaherty (Hermitage) 74 77. 152 - M Rowe (Athlone) 80 72, G O'Connor (Malahide) 78 74, M Campbell (Stackstown) 75 77, C Clancy (Stackstown) 74 78. 153 - C McNamara (Limerick) 78 75. 154 - G Bohill (Co Louth) 79 75. 155 - M Power (Moate) 81 74, S Galvin (Kilkenny) 79 76. 156 - L Ryan (Stackstown) 79 77. 157 - M Butler (Athlone) 78 79, A Murphy (Newlands) 77 80. 158 - P Higgins (Mullingar) 79 79, D Lally (Tuam) 77 81. 160 - B O'Brien (Headfort) 79 81. 161 - A Dignam (Skerries) 86 75. 162 - K Lewis (Skerries) 76 86. 163 - K Metcalfe (Mullingar) 77 86. 164 - L Cunningham (Moate) 83 81. NR - E Barton (Ballinasloe) 78 NR.
