Crowe wins South of Ireland at third attempt

Darren Crowe ended his South of Ireland hoodoo with a dramatic 18th hole victory at Lahinch.

The flame-haired Dunmurry man, 26, was desperate to avoid losing in the final for the third year on the trot.

But he had to sweat to pull it off after throwing away a three-up lead against Galway's Joe Lyons with just six to play.

After winning with a birdie at the last, Crowe said: "The win in the South means a lot. I wouldn't have liked to have lost this one. As Padraig Harrington said at the Open, I don't know if I would have come back.

"I was pretty nervous about it before I went out. Being the third final, I didn't want to have the label of losing three finals in a row."

In the morning semi-finals, Crowe was unstoppable as he defeated Royal Dublin's Niall Kearney 3&2 while Lyons beat Castletroy's Stephen Moloney 2&1.

But while the final produced just four birdies, it was a nerve jangler right to the end.

Offaly native Lyons, 35, birdied the first but lost the fourth and eighth to birdies and the sixth and seventh to pars to go three down before the real drama started late on the back nine.

Bogeys by Crowe at the 14th, 15th and 17th left them all square playing the par-five 18th.

But Lyons bunkered his five-iron approach, took two to get out and finished with a six as Crowe chipped to three feet in three and was conceded his putt and the match.

McNamara&Co South of Ireland Championship, Lahinch

Semi-finals; D Crowe (Dunmurry) bt N Kearney (Royal Dublin) 3/2; J Lyons (Galway) bt S Moloney (Castletroy) 2/1.

Final: D Crowe bt J Lyons 1 hole.