John Doyle suffered playoff heartbreak at the St Andrews Links Trophy as he missed out on his third win of the season and a potentially groundbreaking career victory after a sensational effort on the Old Course.
Teeing off eight shots off the pace the 17-year-old played his final 36 holes in thirteen-under to set the clubhouse target on 17-under as the leading groups entered the back nine.
Scotland’s Cameron Adam birdied the 72nd to join Doyle on 17-under and he pipped the Fota Island star to the post in a sudden death playoff to etch his name on the trophy.
Doyle, looking to become the fifth Irishman to win this prestigious title which would have opened Junior Ryder Cup doors and a potential Walker Cup run, also birdied the 72nd and a boisterous fist pump showed that he knew it could have been enough to win.
The Irish Boys and Ulster Strokeplay winner was flawless on Sunday morning rolling in birdies on the 7th, 11th, 12th, 14th, 15th and 18th to move to within three shots of Roscommon’s Thomas Higgins on eleven-under-par.
Looking to keep his momentum going, Doyle recovered from a bogey on the second hole of his final round with four birdies to the turn to revive his hopes.
Birdies on 11 and 12 kept him in contention but it looked like disaster had struck when he double bogeyed the par-4 13th.
However, the Cork man put on a sensational finish with three birdies in a row from the 14th and a crucial birdie on the last to set the target.
A 71, 68 combination from Burgess was enough to join Doyle at the summit while Mark Stockdale of Woburn was third on fourteen-under.
Higgins led after the morning round on fourteen-under-par but an afternoon 75 saw him settle for a share of sixth place on eleven-under-par.
Matthew McClean shared 28th place on seven-under while Sean Keeling was one-over and Caolan Rafferty was plus three.
Colm Campbell rounded off the Irish on seven-over.
Scoring HERE
Leave a comment