McGeady snatches Irish PGA Championship

In a thrilling finish to the Cassidy Golf 103^rd €30,000 PGA Irish Championship, at sunny Roganstown yesterday evening, Michael McGeady snatched the title by a whisker from Damian Mooney and Cian McNamara, after a day of changing fortunes.

This morning the new champion flies out to Sandwich to, hopefully, add further success to his end-of-season glories as he bids to qualify for the PGA Challenge Tour.

The big Derry man will play, tomorrow until Thursday, in the PGA Europro Grand finals with the top five finishers getting their Challenge Tour card for next season.

“Winning the Irish Championship is a fantastic boost heading for the Europro finals,” enthused the 35-year-old as his victory began to sink in.

“It would be a great double to add my Challenge Tour card to my Irish Championship title.

“This win is amazing for me as I have struggled recently. It is only my second time to play in the Irish Championship, maybe the third, but that is all. It is really a great boost to my game.”

McGeady posted rounds of 66, 72, 70 and 67 for a nine-under-par winning 275, one stroke ahead of Mooney and McNamara, after the leadership changed hands a few times during the day.

Mark Staunton and Michael McDermott led overnight at six-under with McGeady, Mooney and McNamara a stroke behind but it didn’t take long for the leaderboard to change, once the final round began.

Staunton had a horror front nine as he began with a double-bogey and made only one par to the turn. He had four bogeys and three birdies to drop to four-under for the tournament and he could never get back into the pack, finishing tied fifth. The best McDermott could do was level par for the day to finish in fourth place.

Mooney raced to the turn in two-under with a hat-trick of birdies, 4-4-2, from the fourth hole and he eagled the long 10^th to move top of the leaderboard at nine-under-par.

McNamara was creeping up, as well, helped by an eagle at the fourth and birdies at the first and 10^th to be one shot behind Mooney, along with McGeady who had pencilled in birdie fours at the fourth, fifth and 10^th holes.

An unfortunate three-stab on the 15^th green cost Mooney the outright lead as he went back to eight-under. McGeady, who bogeyed the 12^th from sand, rolled in an uphill 12-footer for birdie on 14 to draw level and when McNamara, who had bogeyed 11, sank a birdie putt on 16 it was a three-way tie heading to the tape.

It was then that McGeady’s resolve shone as he had the scent of victory in his nostrils. He rolled in a steel-nerved five-footer for par at 17and snatched victory from Mooney and McNamara on the home green with birdie four.

“I birdied all the long holes and didn’t have a five on my card. At the last, I fired a sand wedge at the flag from 76 yards and the ball settled five feet below the hole. I was delighted to see the putt dropping – it was an amazing way to win the championship,” smiled a delighted McGeady, who headed off to Derry to see his folks before flying from Belfast this morning.

As well as the silverware, the winner also collected the top prize of €3,500 while Mooney and McNamara earned €2,125 each and Mooney moves up to second in the 2013 end-of-season Order of Merit with 26,217.25 points, less than 90 behind winner John Kelly, who withdrew from the championship because of family commitments.

Brian McElhinney, finished tied 12^th at Roganstown, which just secured him enough points to claim third place on the Order of Merit – four ahead of Staunton – and a place in next month’s Titleist PGA Play-Offs.