Open hero Paul Dunne will play in Walker Cup

Open Championship hero Paul Dunne has stayed true to his instincts and confirmed he will remain an amateur until after the Walker Cup this September.

Dunne, 22, has made headlines around the world this past week after co-leading The Open at St Andrews heading into Monday’s final round but any rush to turn professional was put on ice following a closing 78 around the Old Course.

Despite some convincing arguments to turn pro from the likes of Graeme McDowell, like Dunne a University of Alabama-Birmingham alumni, the Greystones amateur has now decided to stick to Plan A and retain his amateur status until after the Walker Cup matches at Lytham, where he seems assured of a place on the GB & Ireland team to face the United States before then turning pro and negotiating European Tour Q-School.

“I’m not sure what my next tournament is yet, it might be the European Amateur,” Dunne told RTÉ 2FM’s Game On last night. “Still the plan for me is to play Walker Cup in September and then once that’s finished I’ll turn pro the day after, like I planned to before.

“And then, hopefully I’ll go to Q School and hopefully get some invites into some tournaments, maybe get my card through making enough money. But either way I’ll just take it each week as it comes and keep practising, and see where it gets me.

“It’s easy to say that you learned from last week but whether it’s true or not, that it will help me in the future, I won’t know until I’m in that situation again.”

Meanwhile Ireland’s Michael Hoey fired a hole-in-one on his way to an opening round of five-under-par 65 at the European Masters at the Crans-sur-Sierre course in Switzerland yesterday.

Hoey holed his tee shot with an eight iron at the 177-yard third hole. The Antrim man is one of a host of players tied for third place in Switzerland, two behind leader Gregory Havret and one adrift of Lasse Jensen.

Havret leads after his hole-in-one on the 13th hole. The two mean there have been 39 aces on the European Tour this season, equalling the all-time high set in 2006.

Danny Willett continued where he left off at the Open with to join Hoey on five under at the spectacular Alpine venue of Crans-sur-Sierre. Willett finished in a tie for sixth at St Andrews on Monday,

Ireland’s Peter Lawrie is well placed on three under, with Damien McGrane struggling on three over.

World number 10 Sergio Garcia, the 2005 champion and one of the favourites for a tournament co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour, was among the afternoon starters. . The Spaniard, who has a property in the Crans Montana area but is appearing in the event for the first time in nine years, opened with a double bogey at the first.

Meanwhile UCD’s Alex Gleeson topped off an amazing week for Irish golf at St Andrews by winning the prestigious Boyd Quaich tournament.

Following on from Paul Dunne’s heroics at The Open Gleeson led home an Irish one-two at the home of golf, in the student international golf tournament over 72 holes, two on the Old Course, two rounds on the New Course.

Glesson and fellow UCD man Jonathan Yates finished first and second with totals of seven-under 279 and 281 respectively.

Declan Reidy of Sligo tied for eighth on 290. The Boyd Quaich commemorates two St Andrews students, the Boyd brothers, killed during World War II.