Brett makes a pitch for title
But after his win over Greg Bowden at the sixth tie hole in Tramore yesterday, the 26-year-old Portmarnock man has the right to feel at least ten years older.
On a day when Walker Cup aspirants Colm Moriarty, Justin Kehoe and Gareth Maybin all bowed out of the Championship, it was the lesser lights of the Irish amateur scene who took centre stage.
Brett had beaten Moriarty by four and three in the third round, but he did brilliantly to come back from two down after 12 against the 21 year old from Hermitage to halve the match by the 14th.
After falling behind again at the 15th he birdied the par five 16th to get back to level once more.
They were still tied after 18 holes and then shared the next five holes in regulation pars before Brett took the match at the 175-yard sixth.
With Bowden in the bunker off the tee, Brett putted up stone dead and watched as his younger opponent splashed out to eight feet but missed the return.
The Portmarnock man will face 24-year-old David Carroll of the Grange in the first semi-final today. The Dubliner birdied the final two holes in the third round to beat Aaron O'Callaghan of Douglas by one hole and then beat Kehoe by two and one in the quarter-finals.
O'Callaghan had played tremendously in earlier rounds to beat local favourite Eddie Power and Ulster interprovincial Johnny Foster before his odyssey came to an end.
Two up on the 24 year old after 14, Carroll won the 15th where O'Callaghan was in bunker trouble and levelled the match by holing for birdie from 15 feet at the 17th.
At the par five 18th, O'Callaghan hit the green in two but three-putted from 25 feet as Carroll got up and down from the rough left of the green for a winning birdie.
Kehoe had holed from 20 feet for an eagle at the 18th in the morning to take Connor Doran to extra holes before beating him with a six foot birdie putt at the 19th.
But he wasn't firing on all cylinders in the quarter final and after a close battle, he lost the 14th and 15th to pars to go two down to Carroll who played the steadier golf and held on to win.
In the other half of the draw Mullingar's Des Morgan scorched into the semi-finals after wins over Richard Kilpatrick and big Peter O'Keeffe of Douglas.
Morgan beat Kilpatrick by 2 and 1 and then played flawless golf to beat O'Keeffe by five and four to set up a semi-final meeting with Mark O'Sullivan.
He will have his work cut out to beat O'Sullivan who knocked out Darren Crowe on the 19th and then shocked favourite Gareth Maybin with a three and one quarter-final win.
Galway man O'Sullivan said: "I had a good feeling coming in here and I've been playing well. The key is how few errors you make, not how many birdies you have."
O'Sullivan, 22, made four birdies on the first nine holes to be four up on Maybin at the turn.
But the Ulster star won the 14th with a bogey five and the 15th with a birdie to get back to two down before losing on the 17th after pulling his drive and hitting his second through the green with O'Sullivan ten feet away in two.
Fog on the east coast yesterday meant an hour's delay in action during the opening round of the PGA Irish Regional (Southern) Open Championship at Arklow, resulting in a late, late evening finish.
As the players go into today's final round there is a traffic jam at the top with four players sharing two-under-par 67. They are Neil Manchip, Peter O'Hagan, Finian Dwyer and John Dwyer.
Included in a group, tucked in behind the leaders on 68, is Robert Giles who is making his comeback on the Irish circuit. This is Giles' first competitive outing since returning from England to take up an appointment as professional at Greenore. Defending champion Brendan McGovern has a bit of work to do to retain his title as he returned a 71 yesterday.
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