Irish Open Am: Cannon wins 3-man playoff

May 13, 2013 | by

Balbriggan’s Robbie Cannon has won the Irish Amateur Open Championship at Royal Dublin in dramatic fashion after a four hole playoff that went to sudden death

DOLLYMOUNT, Dublin (May 12, 2013) -- Balbriggan’s Robbie Cannon has won the Irish Amateur Open Championship at Royal Dublin in dramatic fashion after a four hole playoff that went to sudden death.

With defending champion Gavin Moynihan (The Island), Graeme Robertson (Scotland) and the 34 year old fitness coach Cannon all tied on seven-over par after regulation play concluded, a three hole aggregate playoff ensued and with Moynihan being eliminated after the first three holes, it was left to Cannon & Robertson to go back to the final tee box again for sudden death.

Both players found the fairway with their irons off the tee, Cannon leaving himself 204 yards to the flag. He hit a sublime five iron to thirty foot while Robertson, who had 35 yards less found the lip of the right hand greenside bunker and the ball nestled right in the centre of the trap.

Despite a valiant shot to twelve foot, the Scot left himself with too much work to do and when Cannon left his birdie effort just 18 inches from the hole, Robertson had a must make putt which he missed and Cannon holed out to become the third Ireland player in four years to win the coveted trophy.

Moynihan, last year’s champion, finished as runner-up on a count-back, while Robertson, who had a hole in one at the twelfth in round one, ended up in third.

Ireland’s Dermot McElroy, Richard O’Donovan & Geoff Lenehan all finished in a tie for fourth on eight-over par, alongside Finland’s Teemu Bekker and Ewan Scott from Scotland.

Also on that mark was Jack Hume, the runner up at Lytham last week, held a two shot lead with two holes to play and having made bogey on the penultimate hole, he needed a par to win on the last.

Having found sand from the tee, he blasted out to the fairway and still had 200 yards to the flag. A wayward shot left of the green meant that the Rathsallagh member from Naas had to get up and down from left of the green to make the play-off. A mishit chip shot and a missed putt ended Hume’s hopes of making the play-off and he finished on eight-over also.

Rory McNamara and Colm Campbell rounded off the top ten on nine-over par.

This win will surely capitulate Cannon back into the Irish National Panel and the 2009 South of Ireland champion must be in the minds of selectors with some big championships coming up.

Results: Irish Amateur Open

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Robert Cannon	, Ireland	700	70-75-75-75--295
T2	Gavin Moynihan	, Ireland	500	76-73-73-73--295
T2	Graeme Robertson	, Scotland	500	69-81-72-73--295
T4	Dermot McElroy	, Northern Ireland	400	76-73-75-72--296
T4	Hyoung-woo Kim	, Korea	400	75-77-71-73--296

View full results for Irish Amateur Open

About the Irish Amateur Open

Irish Open Am: Cannon wins 3-man playoff

First played in 1892 and held every year with the exception of the War Years up to 1959, and revived in 1995, the Irish Amateur Open can boast a strong history of producing great Champions including Joe Carr (three times), Jimmy Bruen, Tom Craddock, ...