Second Woburn title for Dundalk golfer Brendan Lawlor
Lawlor, who won the inaugural staging of the championship in 2023, again lifted the men's trophy after a one-over-par final round of 73 saw him to a 54-hole total of three-over 219 and a four-stroke win over Lachlan Wood from Australia.
In glorious conditions over the Duchess Course, Lawlor shone from the beginning of the final round, while his closest rivals faltered.
The 28-year-old, who has a rare condition called Ellis–van Creveld syndrome, made two birdies in his opening six holes, while his playing partners Thomas Colombel (France) and Frederik Brokfelt-Christiansen (Denmark) both dropped early shots.
Carton House clubman Lawlor, who sits third on the World Ranking for Golfers with Disability (WR4GD), produced a composed display with a run of seven straight pars from the 7th - and even a double bogey at the 17th hole failed to take the shine off his success.
Lawlor plays on the Golf for the Disabled (G4D) Tour which was launched in 2022 by the DP World Tour.
Meanwhile, former St Oliver's Community College Drogheda teacher and ex Mayo footballer Eddie Maguire nearly made it two in a row of Spanish Blind Golf Open Championships at the Maspolomas GC in Gran Canaria last week.
Competing in a field of 25 blind and visually impaired golfers from all over the world, the retired teacher took a three-shot advantage into the final day but was pipped for top spot after a difficult back nine.
However, his second-place finish continues a very good run on the international front for the Navan-based player whose next big outing will be to compete in the British Open at Cartrona GC in Scotland.
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Irish Independent
14 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Brendan Lawlor hits fine 68 to take lead at Irish Open
Roganstown provided the ideal test and the Carton House golfer shot two birdies and an eagle on his way to a -3 total, and a seven-shot lead over Cian Arthurs (Roganstown). Arthurs shot 75 on his home course while one of his playing partners, and good friend, James McParland (Roganstown) is in third on +6. They make up the top three in the Gross Stroke Play scoring, while Fiona Gray (St Patrick's) and Cathy Fitzgerald (Killeen Castle) are tied at the top of the Women's Division. They both shot 31 points on Tuesday. Brendan Swan (Co Meath) is the leader in the Net Stroke Play, with Timmy Moloney (Co Tipperary) on top in the Net Stableford. Caolan Munnelly (Tullamore) leads the Sport Class IN, Ian St John (Tramore) and Fernando Vega de Seoane (Real Club Puerta de Hierro) top the Combined Sport Class, Tom Doherty (Killarney) leads ST1, Arthurs is in charge in ST2, and Lawlor in ST3. 'Three-under was probably the worst score I could have shot today,' said Lawlor. 'I hit the ball unbelievable. Hit 17 greens, had a lot of putts. Highlight of the round, I holed an 80-yard shot for eagle on four. I bogeyed one, birdied ten and birdied two so it was a very steady round and it could have been low, low but it's a good start to the week. 'It was a bad bogey (on the first). I missed a two-foot putt and then I hit seven iron to about 16 feet on the second, holed that and then just kept going about my round and it was good. 'Woburn was an unbelievable week for me. I'm taking a lot of stress off my golf this year, I'm still putting in the work, but I'm not putting pressure on myself to perform. I'm just going out, trying to hit it as best I can. 'It's unbelievable to play at home again in Ireland, such a great event too, sponsored by ISPS Handa and ran by Golf Ireland. 'It's an incredibly ran event and it's just going to get bigger as the years go on.'
Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Irish Examiner
Huw Lawlor: TJ Reid's attitude and professionalism an example for Kilkenny players
Huw Lawlor has hailed the longevity of TJ Reid as the 37-year-old claimed his 14th Leinster SHC medal on Sunday. The seven-time All-Ireland winner and seven-time All Star was only second to Lawlor as Kilkenny's best player in the victory over Galway and the defender was generous in his praise for the elder stateman of the team. 'Sure, he's a class apart, you know what I mean? You can forget about his age or whatever. The example he sets there in terms of work-rate and stuff like that, it's phenomenal, so it is. 'He's such a professional in terms of the way he sets up and the way he goes at it. He's a super player, his attitude and his work rate is top class, and I think that's what drives it on for him.' Two-time All Star Lawlor himself is playing some of the best hurling of his career as much as he is keen to play it down. 'Look, that kind of thing comes in fits and starts, I suppose. You can go through in form and out of form and stuff. 'We're just trying to get through the 70 minutes in the full-back line and try and stop them scoring, and if we can set up our own scores as well, then we'll be happy enough.' It might have seemed like a fade-out by Kilkenny but Lawlor had anticipated Galway would have a period of dominance and it manifested itself in an unanswered 1-6 towards the end of the game before The Cats settled themselves to seal the win. 'I suppose for that 55 minutes we probably choked the game and we controlled it well. Look, they were always going to get a purple patch at some stage and we were trying to limit that, but I thought the boys worked very hard all throughout. 'It's something that's happened to us before and we probably need to manage the game a little bit better from that point of view. But look, we got the scores and we got the kind of few interceptions that we needed to get over the line there.' You won't hear the 29-year-old complaining about the four-week gap to their July 6 All-Ireland semi-final being too long. 'Four weeks now to get the bodies right and get loads of training in. It's been a very busy six, seven, eight weeks there so it's a good chance to get training and for different lads to try get on to the team.'
The Irish Sun
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- The Irish Sun
‘You can forget his age' – Huw Lawlor pays glowing tribute to TJ Reid as he reveals what ‘drives on' Kilkenny legend
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