McDermott is king of the castle after Killeen win

Michael McDermott reached the final of the Glenmuir PGA Professional Championship at the first time of asking after winning the Irish qualifier at Killeen Castle Golf Club.

McDermott, of Pure Golf Leopardstown (pictured), won by two shots after carding a one-under-par round of 71 at the Jack Nicklaus-designed venue.

He beat Mark O’Sullivan (Piltown Driving Range) and Liam Bowler (Wexford Golf Club) into second place.

They will be joined by six other qualifiers at the £78,700 Peugeot-supported event at Blairgowrie in Scotland on August 5-8.

McDermott has only been a fully qualified PGA Professional for two years.

But this result helped him build on his fourth spot in last year’s Irish PGA Championship and now he heads to Blairgowrie looking to impress again.

“It was always going to be competitive with nine spots available for the final,” said McDermott.

“But I’ve been playing reasonably well this year so far.

“I’ve never played in the Glenmuir event before as I only finished my PGA training two years ago.”

McDermott admitted that taking the PGA route revived his interest in playing golf again.

“I’d been playing Tour events beforehand for about six years and just stopped enjoying it,” he said.

“I love playing golf, but I don’t think you can play your game properly if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, so I decided to train as a PGA Assistant which meant I could also do more coaching.

“I just wanted to try different things.

“Now I feel much better about my game and I am enjoying playing again so it’s worked out well.”

McDernott, one of four PGA Professionals at the Leopardstown club which is based close to the town’s racecourse, had mixed fortunes on the front nine with two bogeys and two birdies, but finished solidly to confirm his victory at the Co. Meath venue.

“I’m really looking forward to getting to the final, Blairgowrie looks like a fantastic course,” he said.