Curley realises Eastern promise to take major step at Baltray
The 24-year-old Dubliner became the first Newlands man to capture a major amateur title since tour star Peter Lawrie won the Close in 1996 and he hopes it will stand to him when he tries to join pal Shane Lowry on the European Tour later this year.
“It’s a great feeling to get my first big one,” said Curley, who edged out Co Sligo’s Gary McDermott (70) with a four-round aggregate of seven under par 281.
“It’s a relief I suppose because I’ve had a few chances but not quite finished them off but you have to be up there a few times first.
“Hopefully I can come through the Q-School and get on tour with Shane. It’s great he did so well today to qualify for the Open. I’m sure I’ll be meeting him for a pint later.”
An established senior international, Curley was determined to get over the line yesterday having endured his share of disappointments in recent years, most notably last season.
He was beaten 5 and 4 by Limerick’s Pat Murray in the Irish Close final at Enniscrone – a painful defeat made even more painful by the fact that he played a wrong ball on the 13th when he was two down at the time.
He said: “I was very disappointed last year, the Close and especially the way it happened as well, when I played the wrong ball. I was pretty down about that but I definitely learned from it.
“If I could have picked a tournament to win it would have been this one. It’s my favourite course in the country. I got my first Irish cap here and my first Senior Leinster cap. I’ve played the course a lot and know it so well at this stage, I almost felt at home.”
Four strokes clear of Galway’s Eddie McCormack and Mullingar’s Dessie Morgan after 36 holes, he could have blown his title chances in the third round but felt happy to card a one-over par 73 that could have been “76 or 77” had it not been for some short game magic.
His morning effort left him two strokes adrift of Galway-based Cavan man McCormack, who fired a superb, five under par 67 to lead on nine-under par with Morgan three shots off the pace after a 70 and defending champion Paul Cutler a shot further back after a 69.
Sligo man McDermott has had his share of glory days in the “West” but for a while it looked as though he would capture his first big title when he eagled the sixth to get into the mix.
He was still there with nine holes to go but ended up with a 70 to finish two behind Curley, who was just too consistent on the back nine.
After a bogey at the ninth, the Dubliner took his first major step towards capturing the title when he hit a 60-yard pitch to just 2½ft at the short, par-four 14th and holed the putt to go two ahead.
Curley explained: “I made a really good up and down for par from 10 feet on the 15th that turned out to be quite important.”
Two clear playing the last, Curley needed only a bogey six to beat McDermott’s five under par total but added some drama to the finish when he found a downhill lie in a bunker but extracted it safely and two putted from 15 feet for victory.
For a man who was desperate about the state of his game two weeks ago, Curley was back in love with golf.
He said: “I wasn’t ready to pack it in but I was really getting fed up with the game. I met with my coach Neil Manchip last week and we spent three hours, had a lesson and a good chat and he really turned my head around and got me enjoying the game.
“My next outing is the British Amateur at Muirfield and I am feeling good about my chances going there because we won the Home Internationals around there a few years ago.”
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