Mark Ryan from The Grange scored an impressive 3 & 1 victory over Alan Dowling to take the Standard Life sponsored West of Ireland Championship at the Co Sligo Golf Club in Rosses Point this afternoon. Ryan earned his place in the final thanks to a one hole success over Brian McElhinney earlier in the day, while Hermitage man Dowling secured his final place with a similarly narrow win over Darren Crowe.
Dowling had been three-up at the turn, but Ryan won four of the next five holes to take the lead, and closed out over the next three holes to take the title.
In the semis, Ryan quickly established a three-hole advantage after nine holes only to see by McElhinney draw level by 15. Ryan recovered his composure to win the 16th and the players shared the remaining holes to give Ryan his first appearance in the West of Ireland final.
In today's other semi, Dowling fell four holes behind Crowe byt the turn but battled back to level with two to play. Dowling then took the lead on the next and held on to ensure an all-Dublin final.
Filed by Shane Murray
