Eighan strikes a blow for the late-achievers

Ted Eighan struck a blow for the game's late-achievers by sweeping to a five-stroke half-way lead in the Mullingar Friends First Scratch Trophy yesterday. With an eight-under-par 136, he made it quite an occasion for the host club, who haven't had a serious challenger in their showpiece since Joey Purcell, 25 years ago.

Entering today's final 36 holes, his closest challengers on 141 are championship winners Kenneth Kearney and Patrick Collier, who are joined by the first round leader, Gary Cullen. When the cut was made on 151 - seven over par - 54 players survived.

Particularly notable was a sparkling second round of 66 by Eighan (pronounced Eehan), only one stroke outside the course-record of 65 established by Sean Quinlivan on the way to victory last year. "Unquestionably the best I have played in my life," was the verdict of the 52-year-old psychiatric nurse.

His effort was remarkable for a variety of reasons. Apart from being a humble two-handicapper in the sort of company where scratch would be the norm among the leading aspirants, Eighan was a decidedly mature 33-year-old when he actually took up the game.

"Up to then, my only interest was in hurling and Gaelic football with players like Mick Carney in the local club St Loman's," he said. "I began golf as an 18-handicapper in 1979, but was down to seven when I won a junior scratch here in 1984."

He has since made 12 appearances in this event without getting among the prize-winners - the top-six. So, yesterday's exploits came as a delightful surprise to all concerned with the Midland club.

The occasion was also notable for the decision by the club to dedicate this year's tournament to Tom Craddock, in appreciation of his enormous contribution over the years. Unfortunately, Craddock cannot be present over the weekend because of illness, but a special presentation will be accepted on his behalf today by his son, Christopher.

The tribute to Craddock also prompted an appearance by a former rival, Rupert de Lacy Staunton, who competed for the first time in 12 years. "I'm here to honour Tom," said the former international from Castlerea, who now plays off two and is more noted as a Royal and Ancient selector.

Meanwhile, Kearney finished strongly, covering the last seven holes of his afternoon round in three-under-par to keep in touch with the leader. And Collier, last year's South of Ireland champion, was even more impressive, carding birdies at the 16th, 17th and 18th in a second round 69.

Johnny Foster, the newly-crowned "South" champion, became more competitive as the day wore on, improving by no fewer than eight strokes on his morning effort with a second round 71. "I must have made every putt I had in me in Lahinch," he said with a grin, after his first experience of Mullingar.

Rory Leonard would have joined the challengers on 141 but for a wretched, double-bogey six at the 13th in a second round of 73. An over-zealous eight-iron second shot went through the green, from where it took him two to hack the ball onto the putting surface. He had entered the afternoon round in a share of second place behind Beaverstown's Gary Cullen, the first round leader with a 69 that contained six birdies.

At the end of play, however, the day clearly belonged to Eighan, who played beautifully for his 66, missing only the second, sixth and 17th greens and taking 28 putts, including eight singles. His relatively high putting total for such a low score reflects the overall quality of his play, and it is interesting that he had a brief flirtation with the long putter last year.

In the event, he had three birdies on the outward journey - at the first (eight-foot putt), fifth (12-footer) and ninth (15-footer) - to cover the outward journey in 33, two under par. Remarkably, his only bogey was at the easiest hole on the course, the par-four sixth, where he hit a ditch with his backswing.

He started back with a par at the 10th and then produced a superb run of five threes - birdie, par, birdie, eagle, par - from the 11th to the 15th. The run began with a 20-foot putt at the 11th; he sank an eight-footer at the 13th, and reduced the 528-yard 14th to a drive, three-iron and a 20-foot putt.

His only slip on the homeward journey was at the 17th, where he pulled a six-iron approach into the left, greenside trap and failed to get up and down. It made him all the more cautious down the long 18th where, with wind assistance, he might have been tempted to go for the green in two.

Instead, he laid up with a five-iron and pitched to 15 feet beyond the flag. From there, he stroked the right-to-left putt down the slope and, with all the animated help that Eighan could muster, it had just enough pace for the ball to creep into the hole off the left lip.