Fox keeps his nerve as favourites fall

Noel Fox, a survivor, probably got it right when claiming that "there are no easy touches around here." Indeed, on terrain that tends to be inhospitable to anyone with even a hint of a favourite's tag, many of his contemporaries were finding out just how tough things could be as the South of Ireland amateur championship, sponsored by Irish Shell, threw up its customary share of shocks and surprises.

Typically, on the last official day of summer, wickedly dark clouds swept in off the Atlantic in the afternoon - adding heavy rain to an already stiff wind to make conditions immensely difficult for competitors - and the result was a long list of casualties, among them two of this season's major winners: Michael Hoey (North of Ireland) and Eamonn Brady (West of Ireland). In addition, the highly-rated American collegiate player, Jason Semelsberger, also made his exit before lunchtime.

So it was that those who did succeed in negotiating routes into the last 16 by winning their two matches yesterday weren't prepared to tempt fate. "It was just a day for a lot of patience," explained Mark Sheridan, one of the championship's surprise packets, adding: "You certainly wouldn't want to lose your rag over a shot."

Although making his first serious assault on one of the provincial championships, Sheridan - the course manager at Limerick County, but playing out of Tramore - is not unaccustomed to august company. In fact, each year he revisits Augusta National, where he did part of his greenkeeping training, to help prepare the course for the US Masters.

Yesterday, his golf, rather than his course manicuring, did all the talking. In the fourth round, the Dubliner produced a 3 and 2 win over former national squad member Karl Bornemann and, in doing so, kept the best `til last when cutting a two-iron approach of 195 yards into the teeth of the wind to two feet for a match-winning birdie on the 16th. His reward? A fifth round meeting this morning with Fox, a player who has won two titles - the East of Ireland and the Irish Open strokeplay - already this season.

Fox proved yesterday that he is willing, and able, to graft as hard as the next man. Two down after 12 holes to John Curran in his fourth round match, the Portmarnock international commenced his fightback on the 13th where he drove to the front edge of the green and two-putted for a birdie and then levelled matters with a winning par on the 15th.

Just as it seemed that he would nip ahead on the 17th, Curran played a quite extraordinary bunker shot . . . pitching the ball some 15 feet past the hole, and then screwing it back to the pin. A halved hole, and it all rested on the 18th. There, Curran was in trouble all the way up the right and, in the end, Fox needed just two putts from eight feet for a par which proved sufficient sufficient to advance.

Elsewhere, Pat Murray played some of the most consistent golf of the day in defeating Andy McCormick. "I played very, very solid - didn't do anything stupid," remarked the former international. Murray reeled off 16 successive pars in beating McCormick by 3 and 2. Two up at the turn, his error-free play didn't allow his opponent any way back into the tie.

Murray faces a familiar face in the fifth round. On two previous occasions, he has lost to Ken Kearney in matches in this championship and the quirk of the draw means that he will get a chance to make it third time lucky this time round. Kearney, for his part, played extremely solid golf in beating Sean McTernan, a player he knows well from his spell as Connacht boys captain.