Lyons survives outrageous duel on the greens

GOLF/West of Ireland Championship:Good things come to those who wait. And so it proved for Joe Lyons, the quietly-spoken 34-year-old from Banagher, Co Offaly, as he putted his way to a one-hole victory over Portstewart's Paul Cutler in the final of the Radisson-SAS West of Ireland Championship here.

On previous occasions, the putts have slipped past for Lyons, though he did help Galway capture the Irish Senior Cup title at Enniscrone last September.

But this time the glory was his alone as he rounded off a sensational putting performance on the back nine with a sweet, six-foot birdie for his first individual championship victory in front of a huge crowd that included Jack Charlton.

It was a case of tasting your own medicine for 18-year-old Irish Boys international Cutler, who had torn the heart out of the massive home support in the morning when he holed serious yardage on the greens, not to mention a 25-yard pitch at the 17th, to deny Strandhill's Tommy McGowan a date with destiny.

The 17-year-old Summerhill College student played superbly to go four up at the turn, before Cutler wielded his putter like an assassin's blade, holing from 20 feet at the 13th, 40 feet at the 14th and 30 feet at the 15th to level the match with birdies, then holing out with that wedge at the 17th to go one up.

McGowan bravely drained a 15-footer for birdie at the last and watched as Cutler's 10-footer for the win bobbled past the right lip to give him a five under par back nine of 30 blows.

But it all ended on the 20th for the local hero when he thinned his pitch through the green.

After that performance, Lyons was well aware of the threat he faced from Cutler in the final, and he played the first five holes in three under par to go two up, before throwing away his lead with a bogey-double bogey run at the sixth and seventh.

"I had a bit of a chat with myself after that and said, 'don't give away holes'," said Lyons.

He then holed a 30-footer for birdie at the ninth to turn one up. "But then I gave away the 13th with a three-putt, and that woke me up."

Back to all square again, Lyons looked in trouble when Cutler rammed home a trademark 45-footer for birdie at the 14th. But the former Birr player matched him from 12 feet and then did it again, but for pars, from 25 feet at the 15th and 12 feet at the 16th.

The pair shared the 17th in bogey, with Lyons' 12-footer up the hill stopping in the jaws, before Cutler's five-footer down the hill missed on the low side.

But Lyons made no mistake at the last, calmly stroking home a straight six-footer for birdie after Cutler had raced his 20-foot birdie chance a good six feet past.

Lyons was hugged by his wife Vera, who helped read the lines and pulled the bag.

WEST OF IRELAND CHAMPIONSHIP

Semi-finals: J Lyons (Galway) bt S Ward (Co Louth) 2 and 1; P Cutler (Portstewart) bt T McGowan (Strandhill) 20th.

Final: Lyons bt Cutler 1 hole.