Majestic McCarroll overcomes the elements to take Boys’ title

BALLYLIFFIN’S Brendan McCarroll shot a round-of-the-day 71 to win the Nissan Irish Boys Amateur Close Championship at Hermitage by four strokes from Karl Gilbert (Malone).

McCarroll covered 36 holes in one-over-par 143 in extremely testing conditions on the final day.

In capturing the title McCarroll finished as the leading player in the U18 section and has qualified to compete in the Faldo Junior Series International Finals at Brocket Hall Golf Club on September 2-4.

He will be joined at the Hertfordshire Club by Clandeboye’s Nicky Grant, who won the U17 trophy, Karl Gilbert, who won the U16 trophy, and Brian Keenan from the Heath, who won the U15 trophy.

Brian McElhinney found the going tough in the third round of the European Amateur Championship at Nairn yesterday but will still be locked in battle today for a medal.

The 20-year-old North of Ireland champion from the North West Club slipped to a four-over-par 76 for a 54-hole aggregate of 216 but is in joint fourth place and in contention for a medal.

Windy conditions made low scoring almost impossible yesterday but one Irishman made light of the weather and fired the lowest score of the day.

Darren Crowe produced a flawless exhibition to return a 70, which propelled him up the leaderboard. He is also in with a chance of a medal on 217.

Portmarnock’s Walker Cup player Noel Fox returned a highly creditable 74 for 220, while Gareth Maybin is on 221.

Irish champion Mark O’Sullivan is on 222, with John Foster on 227, Justin Kehoe on 229 and Lee Owens on 236.

Leading the way with one round to go is German Michael Thannhauser on 208, five clear of England’s former World junior champion Matthew Richardson and six in front of another Englishman, James Heath, who took silver a year ago.

Nigel Mansell recovered from a nightmare start to card a one-over-par 73 and move into a challenging position after the first round of the Nigel Mansell Classic, staged over his own Woodbury Park course in Devon.

The former Formula 1 world champion, playing the event as an amateur, lost a ball off the tee on the 563-yard par-five second and then dropped another two shots on the 413-yard par-four fourth.

But he turned things around when he hit a spectacular 261-yard three-wood to within two feet of the hole on the 505-yard par-five ninth to set up an eagle three.

Mansell, 50, then raced home in level-par 36 to go into the second round six shots behind leader, Scotland’s Mike Miller, and five shots adrift of South Africa’s Neville Clarke, Chile’s Guillermo Encina, England’s Ian Mosey and Australia’s Ian Stanley.