Desmond walks away with South of Ireland trophy

At the end of a long week at Lahinch Golf Club in Ireland, Sean Desmond walked away with the trophy. After making his way through two days of stroke play followed by six rounds of match play, Desmond’s final act was a 1-up dispatching of fellow finalist Keith Egan.

“It’s only my third South of Ireland and to win, it’s pretty cool" said Desmond afterward.

“To be honest, I didn’t think I was at a level yet where I could win a championship. You obviously dream of winning championships. And I love Lahinch, it’s my favorite course, so to rock up here and win is pretty unbelievable.”

Desmond advanced from the No. 35 seed on the match-play bracket.

Earlier in the championship, Desmond foreshadowed what might be ahead by beating two current Ireland internationals on his way to victory, Conor Purcell in Round 2 and Tiarnán McLarnon in the quarterfinals. Sean Flanagan, a former North of Ireland champion, fell to the champion in the semifinal by a single-hole margin.

Quotes from the Golfing Union of Ireland used in this report