Campbell holds his nerve

East of Ireland: Mark Campbell was prepared to exhume a memory that others might have shied away from to underpin his challenge for the Irish Independent-sponsored East of Ireland Championship at Co Louth Golf Club yesterday. John O'Sullivan at Baltray.

Last year he led the qualifiers after 36 holes in the same tournament only to shoot a third-round 87 to freefall from the leaderboard. Yesterday he found himself in an identical position as leading qualifier, but this time the 24-year-old Stackstown player subdued any misgivings he might have harboured.

Instead, he accentuated the positive, notably his performance during last year's Mullingar Scratch Cup where, despite shooting a poor third round, he refused to buckle over the final 18 holes.

"I was leading qualifier in Mullingar and I slipped back in the third round again, but shot a 66 in the final round, so that was proof that I could shoot a good final round.

"You have to learn from these things. If you don't then you go backwards."

Campbell, though, enjoys an edge when it comes to the mental side of the game: he is studying for a PhD in psychology at UCD under Professor Aidan Moran. The latter has worked with Padraig Harrington and written a book on sports psychology.

Campbell made one or two alterations to last year's schedule, staying at home and employing both his father, Gerry, and cousin Seán Jennings as caddies. Gerry caddied for Mark during his course record 67 on Sunday.

His one-under-par 71 in yesterday's morning round left him seven under for the tournament, and he entered the final round two clear of Seán McTiernan (Co Sligo) and Greg Carew (Edenderry) and three ahead of Pat O'Keeffe.

All three would flirt with hopes of outright victory, only to find the course less than accommodating to errant shots.

O'Keeffe threatened to play a much greater role in the destination of the championship. He shot a superb five-under-par 67 (equalling Campbell's course record) in the morning, and then started the afternoon in startling fashion with four successive birdies from the first hole. It took him to eight under for the tournament and gave him a one-shot lead over Campbell.

The 22-year-old Douglas golfer suffered a significant reversal of fortune on the par three seventh, where he hit his tee-shot over the green, tried to play a bump and run that careered off the front of the green and down a slope, and took three more to get down for a double bogey five.

A birdie on 10 was sandwiched between bogeys on nine and 12, but his hopes were effectively dashed on the 14th where he ran up another double bogey after losing a ball. A bogey on the 16th saw him drop to two under.

The 19-year-old Carew reached seven under with birdies on the third and sixth holes, but his challenge foundered around the turn with bogeys on the ninth, 10th and 12th, and nose-dived on the 16th when he ran up a double bogey after driving under the lip of a bunker.

McTiernan reached six under, but he too fell away before rallying to finish at four under, a mark he shared with Ballyclare's Robert Forsythe, who was five under for his two rounds yesterday.

Campbell responded to a bogey on the first with a birdie at the next, and, despite some errant tee-shots, turned in level par. A birdie on the 10th took him to eight under, but a poor five-iron second shot on the 11th saw him drop a shot, and another went on the 13th.

There was one mini-crisis left, on the 16th when he hit his tee-shot way right, but he knew it had been found when he hit a provisional: "I wanted to get my swing right for 18," he said.

"It was a bit tight all the way around. I struggled a little bit in the afternoon, missed a few fairways with the driver and three-wood, but hit a lot of good iron shots. I didn't hole anything; they seemed to lip out. I knew I was ahead so I tried to shoot level par and shot one over. I'll take it.

"The key hole was number 10. I birdied it this morning and in the afternoon. I absolutely hate that hole, can't play it normally."

The 1999 South of Ireland champion can now look forward to a return visit to Baltray next month: part of his reward for victory in the East of Ireland is a place in the field for the Nissan Irish Open.

What a difference a year makes.

How they finished

282 - M Campbell (Stackstown) 71 67 71 73.

284 - R Forsythe (Ballyclare) 73 72 69 70, S McTernan (Co Sligo) 70 69 72 73.

285 - G Carew (Edenderry) 70 69 72 74.

286 - R McIlroy (Holywood) 72 71 74 69, G Maybin (Ballyclare) 72 69 73 72, P O'Keeffe (Douglas) 70 75 67 74.

287 - J Morris Jnr (Mullingar) 74 70 70 73, M Sinclair (Knock) 71 72 71 73, A McKinley (Shandon Park) 69 71 76 71.

288 - C O'Malley (Westport) 72 72 76 68.

289 - A Dowling (Hermitage) 74 72 69 74, P Murray (Limerick) 72 72 75 70, C Doran (Banbridge) 70 74 73 72, B McElhinney (North West) 70 71 72 76.

290 - N Beirth (Co Louth) 72 68 77 73, M O'Sullivan (UCD) 69 72 72 77.

291 - R Boal (Scrabo) 74 72 72 73, D Crowe (Dunmurray) 73 69 74 75, D Morgan (Mullingar) 71 73 72 75, N Grant (Clandeboye) 71 72 72 76, M McGeady (North West) 70 76 70 75.

292 - P O'Hanlon (The Curragh) 74 68 79 71, N Turner (Muskerry) 72 74 71 75, J Foster (Ballyclare) 72 70 76 74.

293 - M Shanahan (West Waterford) 73 71 75 74.

294 - D Moran (The Island) 74 73 74 73, J Brady (Edenderry) 74 73 70 77, S Crowe (Dunmurry) 74 72 71 77, K O'Neill (Strandhill) 73 73 76 72, A McCloy (Ballymena) 73 73 74 74, G Nugent (Kilkenny) 71 71 73 79.

295 - G Hall (Edenderry) 75 71 74 75, H Diamond (Holywood) 71 68 79 77, P Rogers (Dundalk) 68 78 74 75.

296 - K McGarry (Bandon) 73 73 76 74, R McCarthy (The Island) 72 74 73 77, R Leonard (Banbridge) 71 74 78 73.

297 - T Kearney (Ballyliffin) 70 73 76 78.

298 - P O'Hara (Kilkenny) 75 72 77 74, J Somers (Laytown) 70 72 79 77.

299 - L Ryan (Stackstown) 75 72 75 77.

300 - L Morris (Stonebridge) 75 70 74 81, D Coughlan (Douglas) 73 73 76 78.

301 - S McMonagle (Dunfanaghy) 74 73 76 78.

302 - B Fitzsimmons (Downpatrick) 76 71 80 75, B Hobson (Shandon Park) 74 73 76 79, D Coyle (Co Louth) 72 73 79 78.

303 - S Doherty (Ballyliffin) 74 73 71 85.

304 - D Houlihan (K Club) 71 74 82 77.