James Newton runs away with Irish Amateur Open title

James Newton triple-bogeyed his third-to-last hole on Sunday at the Irish Open Amateur. By that point, the Englishman was so far ahead that it didn’t really matter. Newton went 9 under at the par-71 Country Sligo (Ireland) Golf Club for a five-shot win.

Even Conor Purcell, who won the Australian Amateur to start 2019, admitted to the Golfing Union of Ireland that by the final day, Newton was too far out front to catch.

"I was always playing for second really," said Purcell. "He [Newton] was comfortable after nine. To shoot the score he did with the lead he had was pretty impressive."

Newton started the week with rounds of 66-66-69. A final-round 74 wasn’t exactly a charge home, but it got the job done. Newton opened with three consecutive bogeys, but then he added birdies at Nos. 4, 5, 8 and 13 to get back on track.

"It's nice to have a win early on in the season," Newton reflected. "And I know that I can do it again this year so I just need to go and do it."

Newton told the Golfing Union of Ireland that he had switched coaches in October, and now works with Peter Barber at Didsbury Golf Club.

"The good has always been good enough and he [Barber] has made the bad a lot better,” he said.

Newton is a natural athlete, and sometimes hits it as far as 40 yards past his opponents off the tee.

England’s ⁦@JamesNewton7⁩ wins the ⁦@FlogasIreland⁩ Irish Am ⁦@CountySligoGC⁩ ⁦@EnglandGolf⁩ pic.twitter.com/4BTOzWgCCX

— Golfing Union of Ireland (@GUIGolf) May 19, 2019