GOLF:COME THE end of the Johnnie Walker Championship on Sunday afternoon Damien McGrane and Ryder Cup hopeful Simon Dyson would have been a bit downcast after final rounds of 74 ended any hopes they had of winning.
They might, though, have taken some consolation from plucky finishes after a testing day: Dyson birdied three of the closing four holes and McGrane the last, which was enough to ensure both men of top-10 finishes – and, incidentally, enough to make Patrick O’Shea our 2010 Golf Masters winner.
“I’ve just about recovered at this stage, it was incredibly close,” he said, getting his breath back after a weekend as taxing, perhaps, as that endured by Colin Montgomerie.
Going in to the final tournament, Pad’s Lads were in third, €67,872 behind our leader, Donal Coleman, and €43,990 adrift of John O’Connell in second. So Patrick had a bit of ground to make up.
He had six players in action at Gleneagles, but three of them – Stephen Gallacher, Peter Hanson and Robert Rock – were also representing the managers ahead of him. Dyson (who was also in John’s team), McGrane and Graeme Storm, then, were Patrick’s key men. But Storm’s 78 saw him drop out of the top-50, which left the hopes of Pad’s Lads resting firmly on the shoulders of Dyson and McGrane.
Shane Lowry’s missed cut, meanwhile, put a sizeable dent in John’s chances, while Donal, as it proved, needed more from Rhys Davies than his share of 14th place.
By the time he was able to tune in to the final round on Sunday, though, Patrick was resigned to finishing third, as Dyson’s six dropped shots in 11 holes convinced him it wasn’t going to be his day.
“But then the wind seemed to drop for the last few holes so Dyson and McGrane could play a bit,” he said, every one of those closing birdies edging him ever nearer first prize. By the close of business the pair’s late rally had won them €137,000 combined, a sum that saw Pad’s Lads top the leaderboard by almost €20,000. Dyson’s finish helped John move in to second, winning him €7,000, with Donal taking third (€3,000).
“Just absolutely delighted, this is my first year in the Golf Masters – I intended entering it before but always left it too late,” said our winner, who had just the one team in the competition.
“And I really didn’t pay much attention to the team until Graeme McDowell won the US Open, that put me up to 19th – it was only at that stage that I started using transfers. I began managing intensively from then on,” he laughed, “but really, a lot of it is just down to luck.”
What plans has he for his €20,000 first prize? “My wife, Fiona, and our three little kids – Tadhg, Maeve and Ronan – we’re definitely going to go on a nice holiday,” he said, before asking us to do him a “huge favour”. No problem.
“Could you stress than I’m a proud Youghal man – not a Dubliner. The slagging I got last week,” he said in reference to our inexcusable allegation, Patrick’s Dublin address (Churchtown) throwing us off. Will we put it in Corrections and Clarifications that you’re actually a Cork man? “I’d prefer it on the front page,” he said.
Hearty congratulations, then, to Patrick, John (Portmarnock) and Donal (Stillorgan) – not the first time this summer Cork got the better of Dublin.
