McCormack scratches his 20-year McIlroy itch with first Irish Close Championship
Deirdre Smith also walked away with silverware, as the County Louth golfer overturned the disappointment of losing last year's decider in Kilkeel to claim a dramatic Irish Senior Women's Amateur Close Championship win on the 19th hole of her playoff against Sinead Benedetti (Roscommon).
Karl Bornemann (Douglas) retained his Irish Veteran Men's Amateur Close Championship, and it was Fionnuala Halpin (Dun Laoghaire) who claimed the Irish Senior Women's Amateur Close Plate.
The Senior Men's final would be a battle of two champions, as reigning Irish Senior Men's Close Stroke Play champion McCormack took on Irish Senior Men's Open Champion, Andrew Morris (Royal Portrush) in the final, after the pair battled past Pat Murray (Adare Manor) and David Hunt (Nenagh) in the morning semi-finals.
McCormack would get in front early and, by his own admission, kept 'the foot to the floor' as he made the turn, 6up thru nine, before sealing his 7&6 victory on the 12th hole to become the first player to win both the Irish Close Stroke Play and Match Play in the same season.
'Delighted to be champion, played very, very well today, especially this afternoon,' said McCormack 'I felt as if I couldn't give him (Morris) breathing space at all because he is such a good player.' 'Any win is a nice win. It's nice to win an Irish title, it's another one to relish.' Reminiscing on his match against McIlroy in the final of the Men's Close at Westport two decades ago, McCormack smiled at the memory.
'He was phenomenal, so he was, I was afraid of him that day,' said McCormack. 'I didn't win the close 20 years ago but I won it today so it's brilliant.'
SMOOTH EXIT: Deirdre Smith who won the Irish Senior Men's & Women's Close Championships, Nenagh, Tipperary Pic: INPHO/Leah Scholes
Leading qualifier Smith advanced to the final of the Irish Senior Women's Amateur Close thanks to a 5&3 win against Maria O'Reilly (Headfort) while Benedetti had a 3&1 victory over Tracy Eakin (Dooks).
It was an enthralling final and when Smith got up and down from a greenside bunker on 18 to force a playoff, she had the momentum behind her and won with a par on the first extra hole.
'I lost it in pretty poor fashion last year and I was really disappointed, so I set out to exorcise those demons today,' said Smith.
'Anytime you win an Irish championship it takes a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication and a lot of soul searching at times and to be proud of that is good. They are the really important things; the trophy is not really what it's all about it's all the other stuff that people don't see.'
At the R&A Boys' Amateur at County Louth, there was disappointment for John Doyle, who lost on the 20th in his quarter-final to Spaniard Yago Horno. The Fota Island teenager was 2up with four holes to play, but Horno won 15 and 16, and then took the match on the second extra hole.
Doyle's defeat ended Irish hopes of a first win since 1986.
Horno defeated Sweden's Oscar Stendahl by two holes in the semi-final and will play the Netherlands' Guus Lafeber, son of former European Tour player Maarten, in the final.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
Shane Lowry's worrying slump continues at BMW Championship as Bethpage Black Ryder Cup looms large
Irish ace slides out of automatic qualifying spots after string of poor finishes as outsiders push for shock call-up SHANE LOWRY'S recent slump in form has come at a concerning time for the Irishman. Lowry, who is currently in action at the FedEx Cup penultimate tournament at the BMW Championship hasn't found a top-40 finish in his last four events. 2 Shane Lowry has failed to crack a top 40 spot in his last 4 events prior to this week's BMW 2 Luke Donald could be concerned with the Irishman's slump in form Advertisement The world number 20 is currently T32 of 48 as he negotiates his final round at Caves Valley in Maryland. Clara native Lowry's dip has also seen him plummet ten places in the Official World Golf Ranking. Last week at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Lowry's form took another nosedive - he slumped to 59th, dropping from fifth to seventh in the Ryder Cup rankings. His finish in Tennessee followed a T40 at The Open, T45 at the Travelers and a missed cut at the US Open. Advertisement And Ryder Cup skipper Luke Donald will be alarmed by the lack of form as the 2019 Open winner slipped out of the automatic qualifying places for the Bethpage Black showdown next month. 38-year-old Lowry will be expected by many to earn another captain's selection from the Englishman. But it many not be nailed on, as a number of European 'outsiders' have found form - especially Harry Hall - who Rory McIlroy hinted could be a shock inclusion. The English golfer has six top 20s in his last ten tournaments and showed real consistency since his maiden win on the PGA Tour at last year's ISCO Championship. Advertisement Lowry's stunning early season form will see him into next week's Tour Championship at East Lake - where only the top 30 will compete for the revamped end-of-season decider. Ireland's Lowry will be hoping for a better showing in Georgia as he targeted the Ryder Cup as his number one goal for the season. The top six players in the rankings after the Betfred British Masters, hosted by Nick Faldo on Sunday, 24 August, will secure automatic qualification, with three spots already locked in. Captain Luke Donald will then confirm his six wildcard selections for the Ryder Cup during the week beginning Monday, 1 September.
Irish Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Roscommon GAA appoint new football manager with just three vanancies to fill
Roscommon GAA have recommended Mark Dowd to succeed Davy Burke as their new senior football manager, meaning there are now just three inter-county senior football jobs to fill. The only current vacancies are in Westmeath, Waterford and Antrim following the recent appointments of Ger Brennan (Dublin), Dermot McCabe (Cavan) and Paul Madden (Clare). Dowd is one of six managers who will make their inter-county bow next year, including a joint manager ticket in Sligo. The other five are Dessie Sloyan/Eamonn O'Hara (Sligo), Gavin Devlin (Louth), Ciaran Meenagh (Derry) and Paul Madden (Clare). On top of this, Brennan and McCabe have moved back to their own native counties, while Andy Moran previously managed Leitrim for three seasons, meaning there will be seven entirely new management teams in place in 2026. Dowd is the man a committee appointed to find the new boss came up with and his name will now go before the Roscommon County Board for ratification. The current Roscommon Gaels boss is steeped in GAA in the county and has his fingerprints all over some of their biggest football successes over the past two decades. Strokestown native Dowd was part of Fergal O'Donnell's management team that led Roscommon to All-Ireland minor glory in 2006, defeating Kerry in a replay in the final. Dowd also guided Roscommon under-21 footballers to a Connacht Championship triumph in 2015, before losing out narrowly against Mayo in the provincial final a year later. He has twice been involved in Roscommon Senior Connacht Championship wins, being in the backrooms of Fergal O'Donnell (2010) and Anthony Cunningham (2019). At club level Dowd has an extensive CV, helping Mayo side Ballaghaderreen to a Senior Championship and a Connacht Final in 2012, where they lost out by nine points to Roscommon side St. Brigid's. On the Roscommon scene, Dowd was part of the Strokestown management that landed the 2022 county title, their first in 20 years and eleventh in total. Last year Dowd managed Roscommon Gaels to the County Final, where they lost to Pádraig Pearses and he's back for another shot at a county title this year. Amazingly, he is the first Roscommon native to take sole charge of the team since Des Newton in 2012. Since then Roscommon have been managed by Kerry man John Evans (2013-15) Mayo man Kevin McStay, who lives in Roscommon Town (2015-18, with the first year as joint manager with Fergal O'Donnell), Galway's Anthony Cunningham (2019-22) and Kildare's Davy Burke (2023-25). In fact, since Galway's John Tobin took over as Roscommon boss in 2001, they've had a whopping nine outside managers, also including Tommy Carr (Dublin), Val Daly (Galway) and John Maughan (Mayo) As things stand, in 2026 there will be eight outside managers, including Offaly joint boss Mickey Harte, with seven of them from Ulster. The odd one out is Mayo man Mike Solan, in charge of Longford. The other outside managers are Wicklow's Oisin McConville (Armagh), Laois' Justin McNulty (Armagh), Derry's Ciaran Meenagh (Tyrone), Tyrone's Malachy O'Rourke (Fermanagh), Leitrim's Steven Poacher (Down) and Louth's Gavin Devlin. Oisin McConville is the only outside boss currently in a job to have served three years - and he recently agreed a fresh two year term. Dowd has a big job on his hands with Roscommon's last Connacht title coming back in 2019. This year they exited the All-Ireland series in a preliminary quarter-final defeat by Cork, having made last year's quarter-finals where they lost out to eventual Sam Maguire winner Armagh by 2-10 to 0-10, after shocking Tyrone in the previous round. Roscommon GAA Chairperson Brian Carroll pointed to Dowd's wealth of experience as he unveiled the county's new man at the helm. 'We are delighted to welcome Mark Dowd as the incoming manager of the Roscommon senior football team,' said Carroll. 'Mark has an outstanding track record at both club and county level and he brings with him a wealth of knowledge, experience, and passion for Roscommon football. 'We are confident that his leadership will help drive this team forward and build on the progress of recent years. 'I have had the pleasure of working with Mark on numerous occasions over the last 12 years and I know the Roscommon senior football team is in safe hands going forward. 'On behalf of Roscommon GAA, I would like to wish Mark every success in the role and assure him of our full support as he begins this exciting new chapter.'
Irish Independent
3 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Daniel McDonnell: Nathan Collins' ascent is one less travelled in modern game
Will Irish football ever see another Nathan Collins? It's a question that might prompt a bit of derision from an overseas audience who only know Collins as a solid Premier League player.
