Pyne loses out to a younger Fox
That was all of 40 years ago and he has never missed a South since. He loves Lahinch and it shows. Even though he sparkled in the Clare hurling jersey from 1965 to 1971, his devotion to golf at his home club in Ennis and just down the road at Lahinch shone through and yesterday it looked as if all his experience and know-how would pay a rich dividend as he moved into a two hole lead at the turn of his fourth round match against Walker Cup hopeful Noel Fox.
Pyne, 57, had played the opening nine in one under par 35, remarkable scoring in the extremely demanding conditions, and had Fox under a lot of pressure. But the younger man holed an eight footer for a great four and a crucial win at the difficult 10th to get back to one down and from there the contest gradually switched in his favour. Fox moved two ahead at the 14th but Pyne isn’t one to give up without a fight. He had a chance at 16 but three putted and after reaching the 17th with a six iron for his second, missed from ten feet to keep the match alive.
So Fox survived in his bid to add to previous successes in the West of Ireland, three in the East of Ireland and two in the Irish Amateur Open including this year. However, many other big names made their exits on a day that got under way in absolutely vile conditions and perhaps not surprisingly there were at least seven upsets in the third round.
*Recently crowned Irish champion Mark O’Sullivan lost by 3 and 2 to Neil Turner, the UCC student from Muskerry.
*Gareth Maybin, last year’s North of Ireland champion and a member of Ireland’s six man European Championship side earlier this month, went down by 3 and 2 to Hugh Hanley of Grange.
*Sean McTernan, the beaten finalist twelve months ago, bowed out at the 16th against David Finn of Mallow.
*Big Andrew McCormick, an Irish team regular for many years and a twice beaten Lahinch finalist, crashed out by 5 and 4 to Michael O’Kelly.
*Ken Kearney has played, unsuccessfully, in three South of Ireland deciders but made his exit at the 19th against Stackstown’s Liam Ryan.
*Michael McDermott, also of Stackstown, showed signs that he might well follow in Padraig Harrington’s footsteps when he captured the West of Ireland in 2001. But he, too, failed at the first extra hole against Richard Kilpatrick from Banbridge.
The weather was only marginally better in the afternoon and winners and losers alike trooped back to the clubhouse admitting to general fatigue after as testing a day on the links as some had ever experienced.
Mervyn Owens from Mallow celebrated his 22nd birthday on Sunday and is showing definite signs that he is emerging from what could be fairly described as a slump in his golfing career. He was one of the country’s richest prospects in the mid to late 90s when he won the Munster Boys Championship and the Faldo Junior Series before finishing runner-up to current European Tour pro Nick Dougherty in the European decider. Owens also played a key role in Cork Golf Club’s victory in the Irish Senior Cup in 1999 but ever since his game has been off the boil.
He shed some weight in search of further improvement in his golf game but also lost his swing as well and he admits that it has been a ‘struggle’ to get back to where he rightfully belongs. Having studied quantity surveying at the Limerick Institute of Technology, he has completed his first year of a construction course at South East Louisiana. His golf game has also benefited from his year in the States and it showed yesterday afternoon when he parred in from the 11th to score a fine win over West of Ireland champion Mark Ryan.
John Morris, nowadays a consultant at Mullingar General Hospital, used his greater experience in the trying conditions to outshoot Neil Turner and would have been happy to terminate the contest as early as the 14th.
Preserving energy is an important factor in a championship as long and as arduous as this. Michael O’Kelly has come a long way from 1993 when he appeared in the final as an unknown against fellow Limerick man Peter Sheehan. He has an Irish Senior Cup medal to his credit and a whole lot of experience as well which he used to good effect in winning a fine match against John McGinn, last year’s Irish Close champion, at the second tie hole. McGinn was one up playing the 17th where both men hit magnificent long irons into the fierce crosswind and halved one of the toughest holes on the course in immaculately played pars. O’Kelly was then faced with a fifteen footer on the 18th that he should have known pretty well for it was from roughly the same spot in 1993 that he sank the putt that saw off Padraig Harrington in the 5th round.
Once again he found the target and after McGinn had done well to halve the 19th in four, he sportingly conceded a two footer on the 20th after he himself had three putted. This completed a good day for O’Kelly who had beaten Andrew McCormick in the morning by 5 and 4.
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