Latest news with #SouthofIreland
Irish Independent
3 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
‘I'm thrilled, euphoric, that I've gotten it done' – Padraig Harrington makes history with Senior Open win at Sunningdale
As Kilfenora schoolteacher Keane (25) became the first Lahinch man to win the Pierse Motor Group South of Ireland title for 57 years in west Clare, Harrington (53) joined Gary Player, Bob Charles, Tom Watson and Darren Clarke in an exclusive club at Sunningdale's Old Course. Thirty years after he lost his second successive South of Ireland final at Lahinch, Harrington closed with a three-under 67 to win by three shots from Justin Leonard and Thomas Bjorn on 16 under par. 'Right now I'm just thrilled to have won the tournament and gone out there and played well,' said two-time Open champion Harrington, who claimed his third senior major and became just the third man after Player and Bernhard Langer to win the Senior Open and the US Senior Open in the same season. Conscious that his days of winning might be running short, he added: 'I think that will seep in. I know you were talking about how I won The Open, to win the Senior Open, there's only five players, so you want to be in that category. 'I think they are the sort of things that you realise over the next couple of days, the significance of it. I'm thrilled, euphoric, that I've gotten it done. 'There are some great names on the trophy. I was watching it coming out last night. I was looking up inside at the board that has all the winners. It's a deep sense of satisfaction. I'm kind of on a high of winning, but then there will be that deep sense of satisfaction knowing that you've done both. 'And especially you come to this stage, there's only a certain window. You know, you can win later on as a senior but the window, they say, sort of up to about 55, 56, so you want to get it done. 'And having had a couple of second places, I didn't want to leave it too long. It would start becoming a problem if you don't win it too soon, and I'm glad I got mine.' More than 500 miles away in Co Clare, Keane claimed an emotional win at Lahinch, making a five-footer for birdie on the 18th green ringed by hundreds of local supporters to beat Dundalk's Caolan Rafferty one up and become the first local Lahinch member since watching his boyhood coach JD Smyth in 1968 to capture the coveted 'South'. "I don't know what to say," Keane reflected after a day when he beat Edmondstown's Liam Abom 2&1 in the semi-finals and 2018 champion Rafferty played the first five holes in five-under en route to a 5&3 win over Grange's Jake Whelan. "Absolutely delighted. This has been my dream since ever I joined this golf club, and for it to come true, it's absolutely unbelievable. Just thrilled. Thrilled.' Two up at the turn, Keane was just one up after 11 holes but after winning the 12th to go two up again, he lost the 15th and 16th. Pegged back to all square, there was a chance the dream could evaporate but after making a nerveless eight-footer for par at the 17th to remain all flat, he drilled a 240 yard five-iron to 50 feet at the 18th and two putted for birdie and victory as Rafferty failed to get up and down from short of the green. He dropped his putter and put his hands over his eyes in disbelief as his father, Johnny, and mother, Mary, ran onto the 18th green to envelop him in an emotional embrace. Chaired from the green by his supporters, he recalled afterwards how he was out of the game for nearly three years with a back injury. But thanks to medical attention from two Lahinch Golf Club members, doctors Gerry O'Sullivan and Conor O'Brien, and seven months of strength and conditioning work with former champion Robbie Cannon, he came back stronger than ever in 2023 before going on to achieve his dream. "I have to give credit to those three men there for helping me come back from that injury," he said as mentor Smyth gave him some final words of advice before he headed out to make the sweetest of victory speeches. It was also a special day for England's Lottie Woad, who closed with a four-under 68 to win the ISPS HANDA Scottish Women's Open and her first LPGA Tour title on her professional debut. 'Yeah, I think it's quite hard to do that, but very special to win in my first event,' said Woad, who romped to a six-shot win in the KPMG Women's Irish Open as an amateur last month. She won by three shots on 21 under from Korea's Hyo Joo Kim while Leona Maguire shot 71 to tie for 16th in six under heading into this week's AIG Women's Open at Royal Porthcawl.
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Kilfenora's Jonathan Keane ends Lahinch's 57-year wait for South of Ireland winner
They say it takes a village, and it was never more fitting in the case of Jonathan Keane, as he overcame a serious back injury with the help of two Lahinch members and a former champion to become the first home winner of the Pierse Motor Group South of Ireland title in 57 years. The 25-year-old Kilfenora schoolteacher completed a magical week over the famous west Clare dunes, rolling in a five-footer for a closing birdie to beat Dundalk's Caolan Rafferty one up and follow in the footsteps of his watching boyhood coach JD Smyth, who was the last Lahinch man to win the title in 1968. Keane dropped his putter and put his hands over his eyes in disbelief as his father, Johnny, and mother, Mary, ran onto the 18th green to envelop him in an emotional embrace. "I felt good over it because I have had that putt loads of times before, that back left pin," Keane said. "Just knew what to do. I wasn't feeling any nerves; I was feeling 100% confident. It was just a shock for about five seconds." The 18th was ringed with hundreds of spectators as Keane was chaired in victory by his supporters in a scene that summed up the magic of amateur golf at a venue that will host the Walker Cup next year. "I don't know what to say," Keane reflected after a day when he beat Edmondstown's Liam Abom 2&1 in the semi-finals as Rafferty confirmed his favouritism for the title by blitzing Grange's Jake Whelan 5&3 after playing the first five holes in five-under-par. "Absolutely delighted. This has been my dream since ever I joined this golf club, and for it to come true, it's absolutely unbelievable. Just thrilled. Thrilled." While overseas member Patrick Adler from Chicago won last year, several hundred locals turned out to watch one of their own lift the coveted trophy after a brilliant display of powerful hitting and sensational chipping and putting. He'd made two eagles and 24 birdies in five matchplay rounds to get to the final and did not let up when it mattered. All the hard work he did to recover from a herniated disc that kept him out of the game for nearly three years turned out to be worth its weight in gold. After the first two holes were halved in bogey-birdie figures, Keane birdied the third, then eagled the fourth from 35 feet to go two up. He had a chance from eight feet to go three up at the Dell, but while he missed that and lost the seventh to par after taking a penalty drop from deep rough, he won the eighth in par and turned two-up. Rafferty was spent after a gruelling week and both men made mistakes coming home. Rafferty won 11th in par, lost the 12th to Keane's birdie, failed to convert a slippery 10-footer for a win at the 13th and watched his rival get up and down from sand at the 14th to remain two up. It looked as though the tide would turn when Rafferty made a remarkable four at the 15th, flopping to a foot from heavy greenside rough, then hit to 12 feet at the 16th, where he was conceded the hole after Keane chunked into sand from heavy rough above the back left bunker. They were all square. Keane had been brilliant on and around the green all week and after Rafferty chipped close on the 17th, he cooly slotted home an eight footer for a half in fours to take the match to the last. Rafferty came up short in two, and with 240 yards to go and adrenaline pumping, Keane rifled a five iron to 50 feet and two putted for victory, dribbling in a five-footer for glory after his rival had chipped to the back fringe and missed his 15 footer. There were emotional scenes as the putt dropped, which was no surprise given Keane's battle with a back injury he picked up during COVID, when he had worked too hard in the gym and battered hundreds of balls on the beach without proper rest. "I was trying to drive the ball an absolute mile —the Bryson DeChambeau effect," he confessed. "I used to hit about 250 balls a day. And after about six months of doing that nonstop and doing too much gym, the body just gave up. "I had herniated discs in my lower back and it was very bad, and I couldn't play golf for two and a half years." Lahinch Golf Club stepped in to help, and thanks to two members — Dr Gerry O'Sullivan and Dr Conor O'Brien — Keane received the medical treatment he needed before embarking on a seven-month programme of strength and conditioning with former South of Ireland winner Robbie Cannon. He returned for the South in 2023 and put many sleepless painful nights behind him to achieve his dream yesterday, "I have to give credit to those three men there for helping me come back from that injury," he said. No wonder there were tears at the end of an epic, triumphant week for the amateur game. Pierse Motor Group South of Ireland Amateur Open Championship, Lahinch Semi-finals: Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk) bt Jake Whelan (Grange) 5/3; Jonathan Keane (Lahinch) bt Liam Abom (Edmondstown) 2/1. Final: Keane beat Rafferty 1 up.
