Amateur golfBrian KeoghJake Whelan, TJ Ford, Paul Conroy, Liam Nolan, Mullingar Scratch Trophy, Mullingar GC

Whelan ends long wait with epic Mullingar Scratch Trophy victory

Amateur golfBrian KeoghJake Whelan, TJ Ford, Paul Conroy, Liam Nolan, Mullingar Scratch Trophy, Mullingar GC
Whelan ends long wait with epic Mullingar Scratch Trophy victory
Jake Whelan (Grange) winner of the 2021 Sherry Fitzgerald Davitt & Davitt / Pinergy sponsored Mullingar Scratch Trophy at Mullingar Golf Club today (02/08/2021). Picture by Pat Cashman

Jake Whelan (Grange) winner of the 2021 Sherry Fitzgerald Davitt & Davitt / Pinergy sponsored Mullingar Scratch Trophy at Mullingar Golf Club today (02/08/2021). Picture by Pat Cashman

Jake Whelan is no longer the quiet man of Irish golf after he birdied the last two holes to claim a one-shot win in the Mullingar Scratch Trophy and loudly announce his candidacy for a place on the Irish team.

Thirty years after Paul McGinley etched his name on the famous silver trophy, the Grange man (26) followed in the Dubliner's famous footsteps when he closed with a four-under 68 to pip County Sligo's TJ Ford by the slimmest of margins on 15-under par 273.

"I am delighted to get over the line," said Whelan, a long-time member of Newlands who only joined Grange this year as he was attracted by the practice facilities and the possibility that a change of scene might help his game. "It's been a long wait. TJ played great golf coming in, and it wasn't looking great down the last few holes, but I rode my luck, putted great and made some birdies at the right time."

"I just couldn't get the ball in play off the tee, but I had a few good breaks, and the putter saved me a lot this week."

The final day of the 59th staging of the classic 72-hole event, sponsored this year by Sherry Fitzgerald Davitt & Davitt and Pinergy, was a brilliant advertisement for Irish amateur golf as sparkling sunshine replaced midday rain and lit up a thrilling climax to an action-packed afternoon.

Ford (24) had every reason to feel hard done by as he birdied five of his last six holes and still lost.

He too shot 68, and while he was disappointed not to walk away a winner as he bogeyed the 17th and watched Whelan finish birdie-birdie to beat him, he proved his breakthrough win in the South of Ireland at Lahinch was no fluke and remains firmly in position to finish in the top three in the Order of Merit and win his first Irish cap with the Irish Close and the West of Ireland still to come.

"I'm disappointed about the 17th, but I probably would've taken a 68 going out," Ford said. "It was just disappointing to lose when you are one ahead with two to play, but Jake played really well, and his putter was unbelievable all day."

Whelan, a former Leinster interprovincial, was three strokes behind Ford after 36 holes, but he birdied three of his last five holes in the morning rain, getting up and down for par at the last despite a visit to the water, and fired a 68 to Ford's 72 lead by one from the Rosses Point man and by two from Enniscorthy's Paul Conroy (a revelation over the past few weeks) on 11-under through 54 holes.

Such was the quality of the golf in the afternoon that the final three-ball produced 17 birdies and an eagle between them for an eclectic 59. Ford made eight birdies, Conroy an eagle at the fourth and three birdies. But Whelan made six birdies and, crucially, just two bogeys, and that was the difference in the end.

So often denied by the putter, it was his magic wand in Mullingar,

As Conroy bogeyed the first and then joined Ford in dropping a shot at the second, Whelan birdied the third and sixth to lead by two shots before making "sloppy" bogeys at the seventh and eighth that blew the title race wide open.

Ford was playing well, and after knocking in birdie putts at the fourth and sixth, he followed a bogey at the seventh with another birdie at the eighth, where Whelan missed the green left from 110 yards.

The eventual champion, who admitted he struggled off the tee all day, looked worried as he headed to the ninth tied for the lead with his playing partners on 11-under par.

Conroy, who was a beaten semi-finalist at Lahinch, was driving the ball miles, and after his two early bogeys, he looked a likely winner as he birdied the third, hit a superb wood to eight feet at the fourth for eagle, then made another birdie at the sixth to remain in touch.

A sophomore at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, he was in with a chance heading down the stretch and was still in with a slim chance with two to go, but his putter was cold, and Whelan took control with that birdie at the 17th.

All three had chances to birdie the ninth and failed, and it was Whelan who took the initiative, rolling in an 18 footer at the 10th to nip ahead as Ford and Conroy missed from around 10 feet.

One hole later, his lead was three.

As Ford missed the 11th green and made bogey, Whelan flighted a five-iron under a branch from 190 yards to 40 feet and as Conroy three-putted for a double having just dribbled into the fairway bunker and then short-sided himself, he made the putt for birdie.

"I was lucky enough," Whelan said. "If I'd chipped out sideways, I would've left myself too far back, and obviously, the putt going in was a big bonus."

He led by three from Ford on 13-under and by four from Conroy, who would miss a six-footer for birdie at the next.

But it was Ford who then emerged as the title favourite as he birdied the next four holes to take the lead.

After rolling in a six-footer at the 13th, he hit the 14th in two and made birdie again, then made a 10 footer for a two at the 15th to draw level on 13-under.

Galway's Liam Whelan got to 10 under with four to play but would have to settle for a tie for third with Conroy in the end after a 69.

Ford had all the momentum and edged ahead at the 16th, cutting up a 230-yard rescue over a tree to 20 feet before leaving the eagle putt a revolution short.

He tapped in for his fourth successive birdie to lead by one stroke with two holes to play as Whelan lipped out from 12 feet.

But Whelan, who had endured semi-final defeats in the Irish Close (2016), the West (2017) and the South (2019), refused to lie down.

When Ford missed the 17th green, he rolled in a 20 footer for birdie to draw level and went to the last one ahead as the Sligo man failed to save par after his pitch came up short.

Whelan then found the 18th fairway, and after seeing Ford's second from a fairway bunker rebound to safety from the water hazard, he badly hooked a 190-yard five-iron onto the back of the third green but played a sensational recovery to six feet and rolled in the birdie putt for victory to deny Ford the chance to force a playoff from just three feet.

"Pretty much every great Irish player is on this trophy there, so it's great to get my name alongside them," said Whelan, who singled out coach Noel Fox for special mention.

"I rode my luck at times just made birdies at the right time. The 17th was a big putt to get me at least level going down 18, but then he missed his putt."

As for the 18th, he was aware Ford had had a stroke of luck and hopped out of the water hazard.

"I wanted to lay up, but I was only 190 out," Whelan said. "I was hitting at the bunker with a draw, and I ended up hitting a poor shot left. I was fine over the putt, but I was more nervous about the pitch because it was a tight lie, and I wanted to make sure I got it inside 10 feet."

Now working at McGuirk's Golf in Leopardstown, where Fox teaches at Impact Golf, Whelan has Grange nearby and ample time to practice.

"I moved to Grange because the practice facilities are slightly better, and I felt I needed to change," he said. "There was no concrete reason for it other than I like the club, and I have family connections there, and it's a lot closer to where I work. It’s great for Grange and Newlands to win this trophy.”

He hasn't played in the Interpros since Carlow in 2017, but his sights are now set on contending for more championships more regularly and securing an Irish cap.

"I haven't been on the Leinster team since, but hopefully, I can make it this year," he said. "Everyone wants to make the Irish team, and this will be a big help this week. I still have the Close and the West left, so the ambition to compete in those events and try and push on and see how I get on."

The quiet man of Irish golf for the past six years, he's ready to make some noise now.

"It be nice to start competing in these things, and hopefully, this will give me a bit of confidence now that I've done it, and I can try and kick on," he said.

"Noel Fox has been a big, big help. I've done a lot of work with him now, and he deserves a lot of credit, to be fair."

59th Mullingar Scratch Trophy, sponsored by Sherry Fitzgerald Davitt & Davitt and Pinergy, Mullingar GC (Par 72)

Detailed scores

Final

273 J Whelan (Grange) 68 69 68 68;

274 T Ford (Co. Sligo) 68 66 72 68;

278 P Conroy (Enniscorthy) 72 65 70 71, L Nolan (Galway) 71 71 67 69;

280 C Denvir (Elm Park) 74 68 68 70, M Kennedy (Royal Dublin) 72 72 66 70, S McDermott (Slieve Russell) 69 70 71 70;

281 R Cannon (Balbriggan) 72 67 72 70, R Knightly (Royal Dublin) 66 74 71 70;

283 D Kitt (Athenry) 70 68 73 72;

284 A Maguire (Laytown & Bettystown GC) 74 69 71 70, M McClean (Malone) 71 71 72 70, J Cleary (Elm Park) 70 68 77 69;

285 M Boucher (Carton House) 75 71 72 67, G Lappin (Belvoir Park) 70 75 70 70;

287 S Keeling (Roganstown) 73 72 73 69, R Abernethy (Dun Laoghaire) 70 75 73 69;

288 J Rowe (Tandragee) 73 72 71 72, K McCarron (North West) 72 72 72 72;

290 E Murphy (Dundalk) 75 70 71 74, T Dowdall (Woodbrook) 73 69 75 73, R Milne (Faithlegg) 72 71 74 73, P O' Keeffe (Douglas) 68 78 68 76;

291 R McNelis (Fintona) 74 71 76 70, J Blake (The Island) 67 72 76 76;

292 R Latimer (Knock) 73 69 75 75, H Gillivan (Westport) 72 74 71 75, C Hickey (Dooks) 70 71 76 75, C Butler (Kinsale) 70 70 78 74;

293 C Rabbette (Esker Hills) 77 71 70 75, T Plunkett (Crover House) 74 71 75 73, J Doherty (Carton House) 70 77 75 71;

294 J Hood (Galgorm Castle) 72 73 76 73;

295 L O'Connor (Edmondstown) 77 70 77 71, A Marshall (Lisburn) 72 73 77 73;

296 A Collins (Laytown & Bettystown GC) 75 70 75 76, S Walker (Roscommon) 74 72 75 75;

297 D O'Riordan (Fermoy) 80 66 78 73, P Coughlan (Castleknock) 73 74 74 76, F O'Sullivan (Tralee) 71 75 77 74;

298 J McDonnell (Forrest Little) 78 70 73 77, I Lynch (Rosslare) 76 71 75 76, R Walsh Jnr (Douglas) 74 72 80 72, C Geraghty (Laytown & Bettystown GC) 72 75 72 79, G Lenehan (Portmarnock) 71 76 75 76, C Dunphy (Killeen Castle) 71 75 76 76;

299 A Kiernan (Forrest Little) 75 71 76 77;

302 S Egan Jr. (Tullamore) 77 70 76 79;

304 E Farrell (Ardee) 74 73 80 77;

NR P Buckley (Cork) 73 72 78 NR;

RTD C Byrne (Strabane) 73 68 82