Lowry draws on powers of recovery

GOLF WEST OF IRELAND CHAMPIONSHIP:IN THOSE who know how to close the deal, there is an innate ability to make the unlikeliest things become reality. Shane Lowry has such powers.  PHILIP REID reports from Rosses Point

Yesterday, as he stood on the 18th green in a do-or-die duel with Ryan Boal that captivated the gallery who had trudged after their every shot over the sand hills of Rosses Point, the Offalyman sank a right-to-left breaking birdie putt of some 30 feet that allowed him to take his quarter-final match in the West of Ireland championship into sudden death. It was a reprieve he made the most of.

So, in eventually seeing off Boal - a one-time Ulster interprovincial nowadays attached to the Castle club in Dublin - at the second tie hole, Lowry set up a semi-final encounter today with Galway's Eddie McCormack; while The Curragh's Paul O'Hanlon, in ending the run of England's Jonathan Hurst, moved into familiar territory in booking a last-four match with Mullingar's Dessie Morgan, a player who has shown his own fortitude in impressively finishing off opponents at the tail-end of the draw.

"Cruel," was Boal's own description of his defeat at the hands of Lowry. And, indeed, for much of the homeward run down by the coast, it had seemed as if Boal had gotten the measure of championship favourite Lowry. The match had swung in Boal's favour on the short 13th. Two down having lost the 11th and 12th, Boal holed his 12-footer for birdie while Lowry, nearer the hole, missed his.

Having stopped Lowry's momentum, Boal took the initiative himself. He levelled the match with a par on the 14th where Lowry's approach shot (as good as a shank!) flew right and he failed to get up-and-down, before taking a one-hole lead with another winning par on the 17th. On this occasion, Lowry's approach came up short and ran back down the slope in front of the green. Rather than chip, he opted to putt and left the ball 30 feet below the pin.

One down playing the 18th, Lowry, as true champions somehow do, found redemption. It came with the putter in hand, holing his 30-footer - "You know, stuff like that happens; it's almost meant to happen," remarked the 20-year-old Irish close champion - that guaranteed extra holes after Boal's putter suddenly turned cold and he missed a 12-footer that would have finished matters in his favour.

The first tie hole was shared in pars; and Boal's bid to usurp Lowry finally came to an end on the second, an uphill par four of just 305 yards. Boal's approach from the semi-rough found the back of the green and refused to spin back to the flag, and his brave fight ended rather tamely when he three-putted to enable Lowry to progress to a semi-final meeting in this Radisson SAS-sponsored championship with McCormack.

While most elite amateurs in this modern age are actually full-time golfers, McCormack is one of those who juggles working - as a sales rep for Galway-based wine and spirit merchants J&C Kenny - with trying to compete. So far in this championship, the 35-year-old Cavan native, a beaten finalist in the 2005 Irish Close (where he lost to Rory McIlroy), has been more than competitive in fashioning a one-hole win over James Fox in yesterday's third round and then beating Michael Lavelle by 4r and 3 in the afternoon quarter-final.

McCormack raced into an early lead, going five-up after seven holes. "After that, it was Faldo stuff," said McCormack, "no acting the maggot and aiming for the middle of the greens." Still, Lavelle mounted a comeback when winning the 11th, 12th and 13th holes to reduce the deficit to two holes. However, the K Club player was forced to stay aggressive in chasing McCormack and paid the penalty with three-putts on the 14th and 15th.

Of his task in facing Lowry, McCormack - who actually played alongside the Esker Hills man in strokeplay qualifying - aims to learn from his experiences of playing against McIlroy. "You take a lot from playing with the likes of McIlroy. You learn to concentrate on your own job," he explained.

Another player who intends to use his experience of facing McIlroy is O'Hanlon, a 22-year-old Maynooth graduate who is effectively a full-time amateur.

Yesterday, O'Hanlon - who lost to McIlroy in the 2006 final here - was extremely impressive in accounting for English raider Hurst in a quarter-final where he recovered from being one-down after three-putting the 13th to finish strongly, birdieing the 15th to level the match and then closing matters with steady, winning pars on the 16th and 17th for a 2 and 1 win.

O'Hanlon had also shown resolve in his third-round match in the morning, coming from one down after 10 holes to reel off five holes in succession to defeat leading qualifier Andrew Hogan.

Morgan, a sports retailer in Mullingar, whose only previous semi-final experience in a major came in the 2003 Irish Close in Tramore, was two-up at the turn on Michael Sinclair - who earlier had beaten current international Paul Cutler - before going on to win by 3 and 2.

Rosses Point Details
Third Round

Top half
E McCormack (Galway) bt J Fox (Portmarnock) 1 hole; M Lavelle (The K Club) bt A McCloy (Ballymena) 4 and 3; R Boal (Castle) bt J Monaghan (The Island) 3 and 2; S Lowry (Esker Hills) bt B Cashman (Belvoir Park) 7 and 5.

Bottom Half
J Hurst (Shawhill) bt G McDermott (Co Sligo) 1hole; P O'Hanlon (The Curragh) bt A Hogan (Newlands) 4 and 3; M Sinclair (Knock) bt P Cutler (Portstewart) 4 and 3; D Morgan (Mullingar) bt D Downie (Sutton) 3 and 2.

Quarter-finals - McCormack bt Lavelle 4 and 3; Lowry bt Boal at 20th; O'Hanlon bt Hurst 2 and 1; Morgan bt Sinclair 3 and 2.

Today's Draw
Semi-finals - 8.00: McCormack v Lowry; 8.15: O'Hanlon v Morgan.
Final at 1.30.