Paul Kinnear put on a masterclass to land the Leeds Cup after a string of near misses. The Hurlston Hall player lost in a play-off to Phil Archer in 2022 and was second behind Daniel Croft last year but he made no mistake in getting his name on the oldest trophy in professional golf.
The 30-year-old opened with a four-under 65 and followed it up with a 64 on a blustery and wet second round to win by five from Haydn McCullen, Garry Houston and Jamie Howarth. Kinnear would drop a shot at the 3rd on day one but was then bogey free for the next 33 holes in a brilliant display of course management and resolve.
The former England player, who was part of the national set-up with Matt Fitzpatrick and Dan Brown, led throughout the final round and finished in style by rolling in a 20-foot birdie putt.
"I saw that I was three ahead on the 11th and the rain started coming down so I then just focused on trying to birdie the par 5s. It was sort of a new position to be in for me because normally I have a decent second round rather than actually leading early on. It's a cliche but it was just about trying to hit one shot at a time, I've been playing that long now that I know my good and bad habits and I'll try and stick to my routine," Kinnear explains.
“The 7th was a key hole, that’s a bit of a tricky tee shot for me because you've got to sort of launch it quite high and I just pulled it left into the trees. I chipped out to leave 100 yards downwind which is a nice 58˚ and I holed a 12-footer which was probably the biggest putt of the day as that really kept the momentum going. Had I missed and Jamie (Howarth) had holed from inside me for birdie that would have been back to level but luckily I holed.
"My approach play was my strength. You've got to keep it in play around here and then it's 150 yards and in which is normally a strength of mine. So I felt like I was in control of my game and hit it at or away from the flags when I had to."
Kinnear is coached by Heswall's Alan Thompson and it was some advice on the previous weekend which helped to steer him to his five-shot win.
"He gave me a good feeling and I tried to keep doing that every shot. He knows my game inside out and he always knows what to say. I've known Thommo since I was 16 when I got into the England squad and I've also worked with Craig Lea from Myerscough so I feel like I've picked my coaches quite well."
Kinnear, who played in the 2015 Open and was actually in second spot midway through the opening round at St Andrews, spends his time playing and coaching at Hurlston Hall and he is set to soon complete his PGA training, something that has helped re-focus his career.
"I feel like the last three years I've properly matured and before that I really struggled mentally trying to deal with bad situations on a golf course. That's why I went down the PGA route, I set myself a three-year goal of trying to get my game back. The training has also opened up so many doors and made me relax a little bit and I enjoy learning the other side of coaching, custom fitting and meeting new people every day. I think that's what's made me see things with a different perspective because I know how hard it is. Coaching others has really helped me understand my game better."
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