McIlroy overcomes complacency to make history
Teen star Rory McIlroy today became the first player since Joe Carr in 1965 to retain the Golfsure Irish Amateur Close Championship.
McIlroy captured the title at The European Club thanks to a 3 and 2 victory over 19-year-old Simon Ward, a Monaghan native who plays out of County Louth.
After spoiling Connor Doran’s 24th birthday celebrations with a 2 and 1 semi-final victory, McIlroy stuttered a few times in the final through complacency but emerged victorious, draining a 40-foot birdie putt on the 16th green.
Two up after six holes, he double bogeyed the index one seventh and then three-putted the eighth to allow Ward to square the match, before winning the ninth in par and the tenth in birdie to go two up.
A poor drive at the 11th almost cost him a hole, but McIlroy got up and down from long range, holing a ten-footer for a half in par before saving par at the next to remain in control.
Ward bogeyed the par-three 14th to go three down but McIlroy lost concentration on the 15th, losing the hole to a par after failing to hit the green with a wedge.
He made amends at the next by draining that long range putt across the green for victory.
He admitted afterwards that he will have to get a grip on his complacency if he is to win the British Amateur at Sandwich next week.
“I switch off all the time and I find it hard to get stimulated,” he said.
“For example against Andrew Pitcher in the third round I played a flop shot on the 10th just because I wanted to, not because I had to.
“Sometimes I need to play games with myself. I’ll say, ‘Try and birdie this’, and things like that, just because of complacency, rather than boredom.”
After beating Moyola Park’s Paul O’Kane by 2 and 1 in the morning, Ward missed a hatful of putts in the final and admitted that he lost the match on the greens.
“I putted well for the first few days but today nothing went in. I was absolutely robbed a few times out there, especially on 11,” said Ward.
“A lot of putts rolled across the lip of the hole and that was the difference between us.”
R McIlroy (Holywood) bt C Doran (Banbridge) 2/1;
S Ward (Co Louth) bt P O’Kane (Moyola Park) 2/1.
McIlroy bt Ward 3/2.
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