Connemara golfer Luke O’Neill claimed the Mullingar Scratch Trophy on Bank Holiday Monday.
Luke O’Neill (Connemara ) pictured with the Mullingar Scratch Trophy. Picture: Fran Caffrey / Golffile
The Galway man began the day just two shots off the lead, but he crept up the standings after a 68 in round three and finished things off with another 68 in the afternoon for an outstanding -13 total.
Evan Farrell (County Louth ) bogeyed the last three holes to see his challenge fade, and Jack Hearn (Tramore ) ended up in second, four shots behind O’Neill who has joined a star-studded list of winners.
O’Neill says his win was "pretty surreal".
“It’s definitely up there, I’ll have to check. I won an event in America last year, but for Irish, it’s the biggest definitely up there just because you see the names of McIlroy and Harrington and all them on it.
“It’s one that at the start of the year you want to win. All the major champions have won it. It’s stroke play on a good golf course. It hasn’t really sunk in yet because I’m just off the high of finishing it off.”
Farrell had made much of the early running and was the leader after round one with O’Neill one shot in arrears. Hearn and Farrell were tied for the lead at the end of play on Sunday, while Farrell backed that up with a 69 this morning, Hearn fell away slightly.
That opened the door for O’Neill, who moved up to second. Confidence grew after five birdies, and with six birdies in round four he could still finish with back-to-back bogeys and still seal the win.
