IRISH CLOSE CHAMPIONSHIP: PAUL CUTLER was made to endure a roller-coaster first-round match against Scrabo's Andrew McCormick, but his hopes of a second championship win in two weeks are still alive at the Golfsure Irish Close Championship here.
Cutler, who won the East of Ireland championship in Baltray last week, needed 22 holes to see off McCormick. He then dispatched Lee Valley’s Niall Gorey at the 16th green yesterday evening to book his place in the last 16.
“It was a marathon match this morning alright,” he said of his first-round encounter with McCormick. “To be honest, I didn’t feel tired this afternoon. I was fine. It’s just about keeping it steady. I’m not really feeling any extra expectation after the East last week – I’m just trying to beat the man in front of me and see what happens. So far so good anyway.”
Cutler had been two-up after 11 against McCormick, but lost the 12th and 13th to a birdie and par respectively. The pair halved the remaining five holes in regulation, and then shared the first extra hole in par fours, before matching each other for birdie at the long second.
The Portstewart man missed the green at the short third, but got up and down, sinking a 10-footer. McCormick, however, still had a chance to close out the game after playing a sublime tee-shot to six feet, but his putt slid by.
Cutler made no mistake at the long fourth, and a birdie four was good enough to see him through to face Gorey, where par golf was good enough to keep him in the hunt.
In this morning’s third round, Cutler faces Athlone’s Keelan McDonagh, a student in NUI Maynooth, who finished third at the East of Ireland. McDonagh saw off Ballymena’s Alex McCloy 4 and 3 yesterday evening after a victory at the final hole in the first round against Malone’s Byron Campbell.
“I really didn’t have any expectations last week,” McDonagh said after his second-round win. “I hadn’t been playing much because of college exams. But things are going pretty well, so I’m just trying to keep it going. There aren’t many birdies out there, so it’s just about keeping the mistakes to a minimum.”
The galleries at Enniscrone were treated to a number of exciting finishes in what is being called the most wide-open championship in recent times.
Newlands’ Cian Curley, also coming off a top-10 performance in the East, scraped through on the fourth extra hole yesterday evening against Castle’s Stephen Webster.
Knock’s Michael Sinclair survived two marathon battles, defeating Tramore’s Declan King on the first extra hole in the first round, and then eliminating Banbridge’s Connor Doran at the same juncture in round two.
He now faces The Island’s James Monaghan, who endured a captivating, 21-hole marathon with Strandhill teenager Darragh O’Sullivan before gaining his place in the last 16.
Meanwhile, County Sligo’s Gary McDermott showed some of the best form of the day with a 3 and 2 victory over Co Louth’s Simon Ward in a birdie-filled encounter.
McDermott, who was an approximate five under in the match, now faces Douglas player Aaron O’Callaghan in the third round.
“I’m delighted with that,” said the 27-year-old bank official. “The course is really growing on me now. I think I’ve got the speed of the greens pretty well. I’ve been driving it well all week, and when you figure out where to hit it, you can get a great advantage. I’ve been steadily improving since Saturday anyway, so hopefully I can keep it going.”
Leading qualifier Darragh Lernihan was knocked out of the championship by Kilkenny’s Craig Martin in a match that ended on the 18th when the Castle player found trouble in the rough on the left.
