Delaney stays calm to claim second Irish title

DIGEST: Maybe it's being a teenager. But Tara Delaney's what-is-all-the-fuss-about demeanour appears to remove her from the sweaty hand of pressure.

Not once did the Co Carlow 19-year-old feel the heat of the back nine yesterday at Hermitage as she clung to the Irish Open Women's Amateur Strokeplay title she won last year in Cork, despite handing back a five-shot lead going down the home stretch, reports Johnny Watterson.

Last year Delaney was asked to go to the eighth tie hole against Martina Gillen before earning the trophy for the first time in Cork. An undergraduate of Kent State College in America, Delaney found herself imperiously dominating the field at the 10th hole in the final group before being whittled down to a tie for the lead teeing off on the 17th.

The title holder, who had shot earlier rounds of 70 and 72, was cruising in the last threeball at four under par to her nearest rival, Scotland's Kylie Walker, at one over.

However, at the treacherous par-three signature 10th hole, Delaney hit her first into the Liffey, which runs along the back of the hole, before hitting the green with her second ball. A double bogey to Walker's par reduced the lead to three shots.

No one in the rest of the field was really making a charge, although some fine putting from Co Louth's Deirdre Smith in the latter stages of the final round was eye-catching but a little late to ruffle any feathers higher up the leader board.

Maura Morrin's fine round of 72, matched only by West Lancashire's Lee Carisande, was also a feature of the day that put her in second place overall. The Curragh player's earlier rounds of 75 and 74 put her in the position of just having too much to do for a serious challenge.

Delaney, her driving and approach play generally excellent, handed back a couple more shots on the 12th and 16th greens.

From around three feet the youngster failed to find the cup and ended up bogeying both holes.

"I didn't really feel that it was sliding away, just tried to play my shots," said Delaney. "I just concentrated on swinging the club," added the unflustered winner.

Par on the 394 yard 17th followed by an immaculate seven iron to a foot on the 18th, which landed her a birdie, gave Delaney the title by two shots, her 219 total edging both Morrin and Walker into second on 221.

But it was Morrin, who claimed second place outright because of her superior final round of 72 to Walker's 75.

WOMEN'S TOUR: Paula Creamer (18) became the youngest winner on the Ladies European Tour (LET) with an eight-shot victory in the $2.5 million Evian Masters at Evian-les-Bains on Saturday.

The 18-year-old, who upstaged fellow American teenage prodigy Michelle Wie by becoming the LPGA Tour's second youngest winner at the Sybase Classic in May, fired a one-under-par 71 to finish at 15-under 273.

Aged 18 years, 11 months and 18 days, she eclipsed the achievement of Belgium's Florence Descampe, who was the LET's previous youngest winner after clinching the 1988 Danish Ladies Open at the age of 19 years, 74

VAGLIANO TROPHY: Irish champion Tricia Mangan played a starring role as Britain and Ireland retained the Vagliano Trophy with a stirring final session singles display to deny the Continent of Europe at Chantilly at the weekend.

The 31-year-old Limerick prison officer secured a vital last green victory over Swiss ace Sheila Lee as Britain and Ireland triumphed 13-11.

The win over Lee gave Mangan three points out of four for the two-day contest - a record bettered only by England's Sophie Walker who won all her four matches.

Beaverstown's Martina Gillen got the winning point when she defeated Spaniard Emma Cabrera.