James McVicker proved too hot to handle as he claimed the Irish PGA Assistants Championship in Nuremore.
The Northern Irishman shot back-to-back rounds of 72 to win by two strokes on six-under-par.
McVicker teed off with a four-shot halfway lead after rounds of 68 and 66 saw him soar to eight-under and into a seemingly unassailable lead.
After a third round of 72 on Thursday morning, McVicker’s title looked under threat when he began his final round with a par and three successive dropped shots to drop back to three-under.
He did recover with a brace of birdies before a bogey on nine saw him turn in 38.
His cruise to the title was more plain sailing on the back nine after he began his march to the clubhouse with back-to-back birdies on the tenth and eleventh.
A bogey on fourteen was his only blemish as he finished with four successive pars.
Castletroy’s Jack Ryan applied as much pressure as he could with rounds of 67 and 68 to take second on four-under but it wasn’t enough.
Ryan only carded one bogey in his final 36 holes which included a bogey-free third round.
Only four players finished under-par with Liam Power of Rathfarnham and Padhraic O’Brien of Laytown & Bettystown tied in third on two-under after final rounds of 71.
McVicker wasn’t the only one celebrating as Eoin O’Brien of Clontarf had a superb hole in one on the seventh hole of his final round which helped him to a share of fifth place on six-over.
Defending champion Reece Black put up a spirited defence of his title with a top-7 finish on eight-over.
Scoring HERE
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