Fox completes superb recovery for rare double

Earlier sunshine had given way to the chill of evening when Noel Fox captured the Irish Independent-sponsored East of Ireland Championship for a second time at Baltray yesterday. Victory came in a three-hole aggregate play-off with Waterville's Mark Murphy, who was destined to be runner-up for a provincial title for the second time this season.

The climactic moments were characterised by long-game errors and stunning, short-game expertise, especially from Fox. Indeed, the shot which effectively delivered the title was an amazing chip from heavy rough behind the long second, the second playoff hole.

"A local would be petrified by that," said Declan Branigan, who captured this title in the same circumstances in 1995.

In the event, Fox held his nerve as the open-faced sandwedge did its work: the ball just about made the green 10 feet above him and then trickled down the slope before coming to rest a foot from the target.

This most improbable of pars protected the one-stroke lead he had taken from the first, which Murphy had bogeyed from off the back of the green. And it meant Fox secured the title at the third play-off hole where, after they had both been in trouble, he sank an 18-foot par putt from off the back edge of the green.

Victory for the 26-year-old Portmarnock international came only 15 days after he had captured the Irish Amateur Open Strokeplay title at Royal Dublin. This unique double also made Fox the first player to win two titles in the same season since Garth McGimpsey captured the West and North in 1993.

Much more impressive, however, was that Fox overcame a potentially dispiriting opening round of 78 last Saturday. As it happened, his comeback started on the 16th hole of that round, which he finished in birdie, birdie, par. So he covered the final 57 holes of the championship in a stunning, 12 under par.

"That's the really pleasing part," he said. "In coming back to win from what could have appeared a hopeless position, I proved something to myself. I'm really delighted: it's been a dream couple of weeks."

It was a remarkable day's play in many other respects. Overnight leader Adrian Morrow moved into a commanding position when a morning round of 71 left him three strokes clear of McGimpsey in second place. Murphy and Connemara's David Mortimer were a stroke further back: then came Fox on 219, five strokes off the lead.

The extent to which Fox proceeded to impose himself on the championship can be gauged from the fact that he birdied five of his first eight holes of the final round.

Murphy, meanwhile, seemed destined to become no more than an also-ran when he double-bogeyed the long third, where his third shot was buried in rough behind the green.

But Morrow, who had said at lunchtime that he would settle for an afternoon round of 71, remained in contention at four-under-par going to the ninth tee. That was where his challenge foundered, irretrievably.

From a drive into the second bunker on the right, he was in heavy rough in two and short of the green in three, on the way to a double-bogey six. Another shot disappeared at the next, where his three-wood tee-shot was pulled into serious trouble.

Clearly crushed by these setbacks, the 47-year-old eventually faded into the background with a closing 79.

In sharp contrast, Murphy, who was runner-up to Eamonn Brady in the West of Ireland at Easter, suddenly staged a spectacular recovery. The 22-year disc jockey, who delights in the showbiz name of DJ Muppet, responded from his torment at the third with birdies at the fourth, sixth and eighth to be two under par for the championship at that stage.

He then maintained the magic on the homeward journey, sinking birdie putts ranging in length from one to 15 feet at the 11th, 13th, 14th and 15th to lead the championship on six under. Three putts on the treacherous 16th green, however, knocked him back to five under.

By that stage, Fox had survived three-putt bogeys at the 10th and 13th to get back to four-under-par overall with a birdie at the short 15th, where he hit a six-iron to three feet.

Then, the prodigious power which is so much a feature of his game came into play down the last. After what he described as no better than a moderate drive, Fox cracked a three-wood second shot of 250 yards into the right front greenside bunker. From there, with tournament professional Des Smyth looking on approvingly, he recovered to 12 feet and holed the putt for a closing birdie.

So, he and Murphy went into a play-off on 287 - 11 strokes better than Fox's aggregate when he first won this title in 1996.