Sun shines on Neil O'Briain

Neil O'Briain (above) continued his positive start to the season with victory in the 36-hole Dunfanaghy Pro-Am on Sunday.

The 29-year-old, a recent winner of the Flogas Pro-Am at Lough Erne carded rounds of 63 and 62 for an 11-under-par total and a two shot victory over David Higgins (Waterville).

“I played really solid golf for the two-days,” said the Old Conna man who will be one of the leading contenders for the Irish PGA Assistants’ Championship title which gets under way on Tuesday at the Nuremore in Monaghan.

“It wasn't that easy either. The rain came in and the wind got up in the afternoon both days so it made it pretty tricky at times.”

O'Briain played some stunning golf over the two days in Donegal, recording 12 birdies and an eagle. His only blemish came at the par four 11^th on day one when he hit his tee shot out of bounds and then followed up with a three-putt for a triple-bogey seven.

The highlight of his round on Sunday was an eagle at the par four third but he admitted himself there was a fair degree of fortune attached to it.

He added: “My drive pitched into the up slope and there was a ton of mud on the side of the ball. I was left with 130 yards to the flag so I aimed about 20 yards right of the target to try and take the mud into account. The ball set off dead straight, pitched on the green, and then trickled out of sight into the hole. That was a bit of bonus, it could easily have been a bogey or worse.”

Higgins managed to play 36-holes without making a mistake but he couldn't match O'Briain's fireworks compiling two rounds of 63 and 64.

Simon Thornton (64/64) finished alone in third on eight-under-par with Richard Kilpatrick (Banbridge) and Brendan McCarroll (Narin&Portnoo) locked together in fourth on seven under par.

PGA captain, Gary Chambers (Killymoon), guided his amateur partners to success in the team event with a total of 185, two points ahead of Ciaran Molloy and his team.