Ireland’s John Moran defied decidedly damp conditions at West Sussex Golf Club to seal victory in the English U14 Championship for the Reid Trophy after an incredible five-way play-off.
Moran, Louis Le Sager, Ollie McEvoy, Casper van Rensburg and Fraser Walters all came in on +4 overall, as the rain came down on a blustery final day, meaning the five players would go to a sudden death play-off.
Starting on the par-5 1st hole, it was McEvoy’s approach which looked in pole position, but the Irish player three-putted whereas the others managed to make birdie, leaving just four players vying for the title.
DRAMA AT WEST SUSSEX
The quartet then parred the par-four 4th hole, with Van Rensburg and Walters having the best chances to nick it with birdie putts. However, it was Van Rensburg (Rolls of Monmouth) and Walters (Craigielaw) who departed on the par-4 18th, as Van Rensburg hit the bunker with his tee shot and Walters was unable to get up-and-down for par.
The Wales golfer came agonisingly close to a great par recovery but it left Moran and Le Sager to battle it out back on the 1st hole again, for what was the fourth play-off hole.
Le Sager was close to the rough from his tee shot before laying up, whereas Moran strayed right of the green with his approach and then left his chip just shy.
The Frenchman put in a great approach to 10 feet and looked in pole position for the birdie putt and the win, but up stepped Moran to roll in a stunning 25-foot putt for birdie, and Le Sager saw his effort slide by to end an enthralling contest.
WEATHER TROUBLE
Moran said: “It was intense, but I was just focusing on my own golf. I felt like I’d been giving myself really good opportunities all day and I just had to wait for the putts to drop and fortunately on the last it did. Anything could’ve happened in the weather.
I’ve played enough golf to know that anything can really happen, and I know Louis is a fantastic putter, so I knew I had to give it a go and see what happens. All I could do was focus on my own game and luckily it went in.
“It’s great to be crowned champion. It’s the first competition I’ve won so it’s a pleasure for this to be the first one. It’s great to be in the history books with all the great names who have won the Reid Trophy and it’s my last under-14 event so to come out on top is great.
West Sussex was bathed in sunshine on Tuesday for the first round of the tournament, however the weather worsened throughout the week, with Le Sager leading heading into Thursday’s final round.
Despite an early birdie, a triple-bogey on the par-3 6th opened the door for the rest of the field, and a 1-under back-nine for Walters was enough to see him take a share of the clubhouse lead, alongside McEvoy and Moran who both shot final rounds of +1 on the final day.
TOUGH FINISH
In the penultimate pairing of the day, Van Rensburg played some brilliant golf but he hit sand from his tee shot on the 18th and missed a short putt, finishing with a double-bogey when a bogey would have won him the competition outright.
Then, in the final group, Le Sager battled back with birdies on 14 and 16 and despite hitting sand with his tee shot on 18 and then pulling one left into the rough, he came agonisingly close to winning the competition with a par, but his bogey forced a five-man play-off, with one player from each of the last five pairings heading for extra holes.
The round of the tournament came from Spain’s Jorge de la Riva on the final day as his four-under 64 on the par-68 course included six birdies to propel him up the leaderboard into 7th place, finishing just two shots off the leaders.
