O'Neill wins Mullingar Scratch Cup by four
Connemara's Luke O'Neill
Connemara’s Luke O’Neill is looking make a push in the PGA TOUR U rankings next season after entering the history books with a four-stroke win in the Mullingar Scratch Trophy.
The Kansas State University star (22) started the day two strokes behind Tramore’s Hearn and Co Louth’s Evan Farrell five-under par.
But he sat down for lunch just a shot behind Farrell after carding a four-under 68 in the third round and raced five strokes clear as he followed four birdies in his first five holes with further birdies at the par-five 14th and 16th to get to 15-under.
Farrell, who was playing some 20 minutes behind in the final group, birdied the 15th to get within two strokes of O’Neill, who finished bogey-bogey for a 68 that set the target at 13-under par.
But the Louth man bogeyed the last three holes to finish five behind in third after a 74 as Hearn second successive 71 gave him the runner-up spot on nine-under.
"It's great it has only sunk in the last few minutes when I got my hands on the trophy,” O’Neill said after his first senior win allowed him to join the likes of major winners Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke on the list of winners.
"It's great it has only sunk in the last few minutes when I got my hands on the trophy. It's cool to see all the names like McIlroy, Lowry, all the major champions. It's unreal," explained O'Neill.
The new champion didn’t look at leaderboards all day but knew he was in position as the enthusiastic local gallery grew with every hole.
He birdied the first, third, fourth and fifth, then saved par from 10 feet at the seventh and made a safe par at the eighth despite driving into the trees right.
After making birdie at the 14th, he knew he was well clear and played accordingly coming home.
“I knew I was a good bit ahead after 16, all the crowd was with me so you get the feeling when you are out there without even looking,” he said.
He had to lay up after his drive but @ConnemaraLinks’ Luke O’Neill still birdies 16 @mullingargc to go 4 clear of Evan Farrell (12 holes) on 15-under. https://t.co/F6nKfoW8xS pic.twitter.com/TYphhmCl2H
— Brian Keogh (@IrishGolfDesk) August 7, 2023
He cleverly played the 16th as a three-shotter and still made birdie by rolling in a 30-footer to go five clear after aiming well left from the tee.
"16 was on purpose I was trying to avoid the hazard on the right because I had barely covered it this morning into the breeze so I didnt want to hit a 3-iron and hit another lay up so if I hit a good shot it comes off if I pull it I'm still OK,” he said of his tee shot at the 16th.”
That allowed him to play the treacherous 17th conservatively with adjoining eighth fairway out of bounds this year.
"I hit driver all week on 17 and I just thought that I was way ahead and I could afford a bogey at that stage,” he said of a hole where he bunkered his three-iron from the tee but made a safe bogey five after leaving himself a fast-breaking six-footer for par.
“Tried to hit 3-iron down the middle I only had 150 in if I hit the fairway, which is not a long club, maybe nine-iron and I just tugged it a bit into the bunker and I couldn't go at the green. Hit a nice third shot and there was a big break on the putt.”
He bogeyed the last too, chipping up the fairway from the trees before three-putting from just off the green after his third spun off the surface.
"I didn't really play well yesterday, so I took a lot of notes and had to clean up a lot for today,“ he said. “I didn't miss anything short today and played two solid rounds. Just the one mistake this morning and then ball striking this afternoon was good. Holed a nice par putt on two to keep momentum. The longest putt in the three birdies (in a row from the third) was probably 15 feet. “
He qualified for Final Qualifying for the US Open earlier this year and is hoping to push on at college in 2023-24 as the winner of the PGA TOUR U rankings is awarded a PGA TOUR card with those finishing from second to 20th getting cards for the second-tier Korn Ferry Tour.
"I came second in regionals to get into nationals. Strokeplay has been good this year, been struggling with matchplay just need to get over that hump,” he said of his goals for the forthcoming college season. “Try and have a good year for PGA Tour U I don't know what ranking I am, I know Max (Kennedy) is 20th, he has played really nice stuff so try and emulate him this year.”
As for Mullingar, he was thrilled to get his first Senior win after claiming the German Boys in 2019.
"This is my third time,” he said of his Mullingar history “Missed the cut in my first year then came fourth and I was ready to try and win this one this year. When I was growing up, there used to be a poster in Connemara of Mullingar and you could see the pictures of major champions so growing up you always want to play it, and it's gotten bigger since Golf Ireland has taken it over. "
Mullingar Scratch Trophy, sponsored by Sherry Fitzgerald, Davitt & Davitt and Pinergy, Mullingar (Par 72)
Final
275 Luke O’Neill (Connemara) 68 71 68 68;
279 Jack Hearn (Tramore) 69 68 71 71;
280 Evan Farrell (Co. Louth) 67 70 69 74;
282 TJ Ford (Co Sligo) 74 70 70 68 ;
283 Eoin Sullivan (Portmarnock) 77 65 70 71;
284 Quentin Carew (Castleknock) 73 68 73 70;
285 Jack McDonnell (Forrest Little) 70 71 72 72;
286 Matthew Giles (Greenore) 72 72 72 70;
287 Ryan Griffin (Rosapenna) 75 69 75 68, Paul Coughlan (Castleknock) 72 74 72 69, Lee O’Meara (Tullamore) 75 71 70 71, Richard Knightly (Royal Dublin) 73 72 72 70, David Howard (Fota island) 70 68 73 76;
288 Matthew Grehan (Tullamore) 73 69 74 72, Graham Donohoe (Enniscorthy) 70 73 74 71, AJ McCabe
(Malahide) 74 70 71 73;
289 Ian Lynch (Rosslare) 75 72 72 70, Keith Egan (Carton House) 74 69 74 72, Alex King (Faithlegg) 72 73 70 74, Dylan Keating (Seapoint) 73 72 71 73, Liam Abom (Edmondstown) 71 73 71 74, David Kitt
(Athenry) 74 70 69 76, Cian Harkin (Letterkenny) 71 70 74 74, Robert Galligan (Elm Park) 73 71 66 79;
290 Sam Murphy (Portumna) 74 71 71 74;
291 Gary Collins (Rosslare) 77 69 74 71, Dean O’ Riordan (Fermoy) 76 69 71 75;
292 Jake Foley (Elm Park) 71 75 71 75, Colin Cunningham (Carton House) 76 71 73 72, Jason Rackard (Bunclody) 75 70 74 73, Adam Smith (Mullingar) 72 69 75 76;
293 Allan Kiernan (Forrest Little) 73 70 75 75, Josh McCabe (Roganstown) 71 75 74 73, Colin Woodroofe (Dun Laoghaire) 74 73 75 71, Jamie Butler (Killeen) 72 71 74 76, Conor Hickey (Dooks) 71 75 70 77
295 Brandon St John (Portmarnock) 75 70 75 75, Morgan Cain (Cork) 74 71 75 75, Jonathan Keane (Lahinch) 73 74 76 73, Rory Williamson (Holywood) 78 68 74 76;
298 Robert Walsh (Douglas) 76 71 80 71;
300 Evan Shipp (Headfort) 70 70 81 79;
301 James Hewitt (Tandragee) 72 75 78 76;
309 David Keenaghan (Mullingar) 73 74 78 84.
WD Jordan Hood (Galgorm Castle) 75 72 WD
