Big guns bow out in Lahinch

MONDAY madness is nothing new in the South of Ireland and so it came to pass yesterday when four members of the Irish team in the recent European Championship were yesterday all eliminated in the third and fourth rounds at Lahinch.

While the wind blowing in off the Atlantic was still of serious proportions, the ferocious conditions of Sunday had relented appreciably and it was a good day for links golf – even if it proved too much for the holder Niall Kearney, who bowed out in the morning’s third round to be followed in the afternoon by 2006 champion and Irish team-mates Simon Ward, Cian Curley and Dara Lernihan.

Accordingly, the outcome is more open than ever and the only certainty is that a new champion will be crowned tomorrow evening. The big names may have bitten the dust but there’s a lot of talent remaining, much of it certain to be of interest to the hard-pressed Munster selectors who tonight choose their side for the interprovincial championships at Douglas next month.