Brian KeoghJames Claridge, West of Ireland Championship, County Sligo GC, Barry Anderson, Marc Boucher, Shane McDermott

English raider Claridge romps to centenary West of Ireland win

Brian KeoghJames Claridge, West of Ireland Championship, County Sligo GC, Barry Anderson, Marc Boucher, Shane McDermott
English raider Claridge romps to centenary West of Ireland win

James Claridge overcame heavy rain and winds gusting over 35mph to beat Co Sligo’s Barry Anderson 6&5 and claim the 100th edition of the Connolly’s Audi West of Ireland Amateur Open Championship at Rosses Point.

James Claridge overcame heavy rain and winds gusting over 35mph to beat Co Sligo’s Barry Anderson 6&5 and claim the 100th edition of the Connolly’s Audi West of Ireland Amateur Open Championship at Rosses Point.

Hailing from Enville Golf Club near Birmingham, the England player (20) claimed the Pat Ruddy Perpetual Trophy as the leading qualifier, then saw off Joe Lyons and Patrick Keeling before following a 20th-hole win over Carton House’s Marc Boucher in yesterday’s semi-finals with a hugely impressive performance in the decider.

“It’s pretty cool isn’t it,” said Claridge, who played the 13 holes in an incredible, bogey-free, two-under to join Major champions Pádraig Harrington, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry on the list of winners.

“You don’t really think about it when you’re playing, you’re just out here trying to get the job done but it means a lot to be in company with people like that.”

He won the first, third, sixth and seventh with pars to go four up, then made a 15 footer for a winning par at the 11th and a 12 footer for birdie at the 12th to go six up before closing out the match with a par three at the 13th.

“The key was probably the up and down on two,” said Claridge, who made pars at the second, third and fourth, birdied the fifth, then made further key par saves at the eighth and 11th to give Anderson no encouragement.

Anderson (32) beat Slieve Russell’s Shane McDermott one-up in the morning but he had no complaints in defeat.

“It’s heartbreaking when you don’t get over the line but James played unreal all day,” said Anderson, who lost the first and sixth after driving out of bounds.  “He didn’t miss a shot all day and even when he did, he was holing 10 footers for par so he didn’t really open the door.

It's a little bit hard to process at the moment. If you had told me I was going to get to the final at the start of the week I would have probably ripped your arm off for it. Once you’re that close it’s just heartbreaking. You’re so close but it’s just not good enough at the end.”

This makes it two wins in a row for the Staffordshire youngster who just last week claimed the Berkhamsted Trophy. And with the Walker Cup just around the corner, he knows this form could put him in contention for a place.

“To win two solid events in pretty good fields, you have got Hugh Foley, Peter O’Keeffe, Arron Edwards-Hill who are in the practice squad,” said Claridge.

“My goal this week was as long as I did better than them and keep pushing my name forward. I’m really looking forward to the top four, you know Lytham, Brabs, St Andrews, British and see what I can do there. It just seems to be going my way at the minute.”