McDonagh keeps brave face as battling 72 keeps him in touch

Kelan McDonagh confessed that golf has been put firmly in perspective by his girlfriend’s brave battle with cancer after he opened with a battling 72 to keep the leaders in his sights in the Irish Amateur Open at Royal Dublin.

The 22-year old Athlone man, who graduated from NUI Maynooth through the Paddy Harrington Golf Scholarship scheme last year, set the early pace before finishing the day alone in fifth place, two shots behind joint leaders Simon Ward of Baltray and Masserene’s Tiarnan McLarnon.

McDonagh’s girlfriend, 22-year old Claire Condron, is in a Dublin hospital recovering from a bone marrow transplant after being diagnosed with cancer in January.