Cian first Irishman to capture Open title

IT isn't very often that an Irish sports person sees off the best efforts of rivals from 57 other countries, but that's what happened at Royal Musselburgh yesterday when Cian McNamara, a student at Crescent College Comprehensive and a member of Limerick Golf Club, maintained his three-stroke overnight lead to become the first Irish player to capture the R&A Junior Open Championship.

McNamara, who celebrated only his 16th birthday on June 28, compiled rounds of 71, 65 and 71 for a three under par total of 207 to beat a hugely impressive Korean girl, Da Sol Chung, into 2nd place. McNamara’s 65 on Tuesday was the key element in the biennial event that has been running since 1992 and is always played at a course close to the Open Championship venue. That superb effort also brought his handicap down to scratch so that was one of his ambitions

realised in the most spectacular fashion. Protecting his overnight three-stroke lead was paramount in McNamara’s mind as he went into the final round. He finished runner-up in the Leinster Boys Championship a fortnight ago and at the 20th in the semi-final of the Ulster Boys last week, so he was determined there would be no slip-ups on this occasion.