WITH only the finishing touch to be applied, Des Smyth engaged in a gentle little exchange with the many supporters who had waited for this moment. "How many do I need?" he asked, while facing a six-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole of the Smurfit Irish Professional

Championship at Slieve Russell yesterday. He could have afforded five putts; he took only one, and the title was his for a fifth time.

It was a remarkably tame climax to what seemed likely to be a gripping battle for the record top prize of £16,600, particularly when Smyth, Philip Walton, Raymond Burns and Eamonn Darcy were covered by only two strokes going into the final round. But as things turned out, Smyth had one hand on the trophy after an admirable outward journey of 34 on the way to a closing 69.

"You can't plan a round of golf, but I knew the front nine was the key," he said afterwards. By that stage, he had effectively broken the challenge of his playing partner Walton and was about to do the same to another former winner, Eamonn Darcy, in the two-ball ahead. Indeed Smyth did his work so efficiently that he compiled a seven-under-par aggregate of 281 for a five-stroke winning margin.

Going up the long 18th, Walton needed a birdie to claim second place on his own. The prospect faded rapidly, however, when he pushed his drive into the fairway bunker on the right and failed to reach the top tier of the green with his third shot. So, he and Darcy became joint runners-up and for a second successive year. The admirable Headfort professional, Brendan McGovern filled fourth position.

Having captured this title to the first time in 1979 at Royal Dublin. Smyth can now claim to have dominated his national championship for the last 18 yes. I'm really delighted," he said afterward have been striking the ball very nicely since last November and this is a tremendous boost to my confidence."

Apart from securing the title for a fifth time, he has also completed a notable double, given his victor last October in the inaugural Glen Dimplex Irish International Matchplay Championship at Seapoint. "It was really nice to finish in style, though I'm glad I didn't have to get up and down from that bunker at the last," he added.

Walton, the defending champion, admitted afterwards that he was fighting a losing battle from the opening few holes. With the wind changing to a westerly direction, it was now at its most difficult. So, a start of par-birdie for Smyth - he sank a 20-footer at the second - as against a bogey (hunkered approach at the first) and a par for Walton meant a swing of two strokes.

Then came two crucial shots to strengthen Smyth's position. After pulling a five-iron tee-shot into an extremely difficult lie in a bunker at the short fourth, where Walton was on the green, Smyth produced a superb recovery to three feet. And his improbable par became all the more important when Walton three-putted for a bogey four.

Nor was there any let-up from Smyth at the long sixth. There, Walton hit a long, straight drive and a four-wood of 250 yards to be pin-high off the right edge of the green. For his part, Smyth laid up with a three-iron second shot and hit a moderate wedge to 12 feet. But when Walton chipped close for an almost certain birdie, the leader matched him by sinking the putt for a birdie four.

With the gap from Walton remaining at four strokes, attention now turned to the challenge of Darcy who had jumped into the picture with successive birdies at the fourth, fifth and sixth.

And he proceeded to sink an 18-foot birdie putt at the eighth to be five under par and within a stroke of the lead at that stage.

But, like Walton, he was unable to maintain the pressure on Smyth, who produced a succession of beautifully-struck irons, while his driving was almost invariably in the fairway. As it happened, the short, 193-yard, 11th delivered the next major shift. ,Whereas Darcy three-putted from the front edge for a bogey, it became the scene for Smyth's best shot of the day.

This was a three-iron, struck so sweetly into a crosswind the it covered the pin all the way and came to rest 12 feet past. From there, the leader holed the putt: a superb birdie.

After that, the championship was Smyth's to lose - and he is not given to philanthropy in such circumstances. That much was evident by his play of the treacherous, long 13th where, from a decidedly awkward lie off a wayward second shot, he made sure of being comfortably clear of the water by missing the green on the right. A bogey six was quite acceptable.

Walton conceded that he had lost to a better man on the day. "The first few holes killed me but, either way, I'd need to have played really well to beat Smythie on that form," he said. For his part, Darcy blamed a bogey at the 3th where a protruding stone interfered with his third shot.

Five weeks previously, Smyth had to endure a nightmare finish of four putts on the 72nd when challenging for the Madeira Open. Against that background, yesterday's performance lent telling emphasis to the unyielding, competitive steel of one of the country's finest players.