Forrest Little's Eoin Arthurs completed a fairytale victory in the East of Ireland and sent his father away to the bookies a happy man after cruising to an imperious four-stroke win in the East of Ireland Amateur Open Championship at County Louth.

The 24-year-old driving range operator and club-fitter - who feared he would be dubbed “One-Round-Arthurs” after turning a couple of golden starts into calamitous finishes earlier this season - came from three strokes behind the overnight leader Dara Lernihan thanks to rounds of 69 and 71 for a six-under par total of 282.

Lernihan and Westport’s Cathal O’Malley finished second on two under par with The Curragh’s Paul O’Hanlon alone in fourth.

There was even an amazing cameo performance by Irish number one Shane Lowry, who got within a shot of the lead after playing his first 27 holes in nine-under before a bogey at the 13th and a nightmare triple bogey eight at the par-five 18th left him tied for fifth place with fellow internationals Jonny Caldwell and Paul Cutler on level par.

This was Arthurs day and his father John must have been counting his lucky stars and a couple of thousand euro to boot after placing a €30 each way bet on his son with a Swords bookie at 60-1 earlier in the week.

After storming into a two-stroke lead thanks to an opening 66, Arthurs crashed to a 76 in Saturday’s second round and feared that he had blown another golden opportunity to shine.

He revealed: "One of the guys in the club said well done when I shot the 66 in the first round. But he told me that I had to go out and shoot another good score or I'd be remembered as One-Round-Arthurs.

“When I shot 76, I thought, here we go again. But I got a pep talk from my girlfriend Finola and my caddie Conor O’Toole and I just went out there and played as well as I could.”

Despite a tricky southeast wind, Arthurs cracked a third round 69 on the sun-baked course to top the leadboard by a stroke on five-under par from overnight leader Lernihan with O’Malley a shot further back on three-under par.

But this time Arthurs finished the job, cruising five shots clear of his rivals with six holes to play and eventually closing with a 71 that featured four birdies, the last of which came courtesy of a 30 yard putt to a couple of inches at the par five 18th.

Lowry would have given his right arm for a similar score earlier in the day but he was so angry when he carved his three-wood out of bounds at the 18th that he slammed the offending club into the ground, breaking it in two.

He immediately apologised for his fit of pique but was still simmering at the finishing, explaining: “I am very annoyed with myself. I could have reached the green with a good shot. In hindsight, it’s easy to say I should have laid up.

“But I played great golf today and from ten shots behind I got back to within one of the leaders with nine to play. It has been another pretty good tournament, I suppose, but I am disappointed with that finish.”

His mood could not have contrasted more with than of Arthurs, who said: "It feels unbelievable. I'm over the moon. My ambitions this season were to win a title and play for Leinster and Ireland. I think I might be good for the Leinster team now. But I really want to play for Ireland again and this is a great start."

East of Ireland Amateur Open, Co Louth (Par 72)

282 E Arthurs (Forrest Little) 66 76 69 71
286 C O'Malley (Westport) 71 71 71 73, D Lernihan (Castle) 68 71 73 74
287 P O'Hanlon (Curragh) 70 75 70 72
288 S Lowry (Esker Hills) 72 77 67 72, P Cutler (Portstewart) 71 73 71 73, J Caldwell (Clandeboye) 69 72 74 73
291 P Murray (Limerick) 78 72 73 68, N Grant (Knock) 73 68 78 72
293 D Sutton (Lockerbie) 74 70 71 78, E Kennedy (Rosapenna) 73 75 75 70, C Doran (Banbridge) 71 79 71 72
294 A Hogan (Newlands) 76 73 72 73
295 D Morgan (Mullingar) 74 75 72 74
296 K Crowley (Lee Valley) 75 75 72 74, C Curley (Newlands) 74 77 70 75, S Ward (Co Louth) 73 77 76 70, R McCarthy (The Island) 71 73 79 73, H Diamond (Belvoir Park) 69 77 75 75
297 D Crowe (Dunmurry) 75 68 75 79
298 E O'Sullivan (The Island) 77 73 74 74, M Mullen (Wexford) 73 74 74 77
300 R Forsythe (Ballyclare) 71 79 77 73, G O'Flaherty (Cork) 71 76 72 81, N O'Connor (Elm Park) 70 78 75 77
301 R Weldon (Hermitage) 77 74 72 78, F Rafferty (Dungannon) 72 77 73 79, M Buggy (Castlecomer) 70 78 77 76
302 G Dunne (Seapoint) 75 72 78 77, K Bornemann (Douglas) 71 78 77 76, A O'Callaghan (Douglas) 71 74 81 76
303 P Buckley (Kanturk) 73 76 73 81, N Kearney (Royal Dublin) 71 73 77 82
304 E McCormack (Galway) 77 73 73 81
305 W Kelly (Killeen) 76 74 77 78, R Leonard (Banbridge) 76 72 79 78, M Shanahan (West Waterford) 75 74 75 81
306 D Carroll (Grange) 75 74 80 77, N Goulding (Portmarnock) 74 75 75 82, G Lawlor (Citywest) 73 76 76 81
307 C Cunningham (Carton House) 74 75 76 82, E Marsden (Tullamore/NUIG) 73 76 76 82
308 D Ruddy (Thurles) 76 71 78 83, B Walton (Island/NUIM) 75 74 82 77, A Dowling (Hermitage) 72 74 80 82
309 B Fennelly (Royal Dublin) 77 73 76 83, J McGinn (L & B) 76 75 79 79, A McCormick (Scrabo) 75 76 78 80, J Waldron (Muskerry) 74 77 78 80
314 R Durnin (Laytown & Bettystown) 76 75 79 84