Brian McElhinney today became the first golfer from the Republic of Ireland to win the Amateur championship since the late and great Joe Carr captured the trophy for a third time in 1960.
The 22-year-old from the North West club in County Donegal comfortably beat
Scotland's John Gallagher five and four in the 36-hole final at windy Royal Birkdale.
And as a result McElhinney will play in next month's Open at St Andrews and next April's Masters at Augusta. A Walker Cup debut in Chicago in August also awaits.
"It's going to take a while to sink in," he said. "I was very nervous. I couldn't eat properly all day and I had about three hours' sleep last night."
While he had no great expectations of success arriving for the week the former European and Irish champion was firm favourite come the final.
Gallagher has yet to be capped by his country and says of his highly unconventional left hand below right swing: "It's that bad you have to be over 18 to watch me."
The self-taught 24-year-old, a former greenkeeper, would rather his scores from the morning round were not broadcast too widely either.
He managed only a nine-over-par 79 in the difficult conditions and McElhinney's much more steady 74 put him in firm control.
Key to the Irish golfer being in command at halfway was the long 17th. He was short of the green in two after Gallagher, having just cut his deficit to three, had chased a long-iron on to 25 feet.
But McElhinney pitched to four feet, his opponent three-putted and the hole was seized against the head. Gallagher had three more putts at the 18th, but escaped with a half there.
The Scot came back to win the 25th, but was bunkered on the next and fell five behind when he was in gorse at the 27th.
McElhinney, whose parents and brother had come over on the ferry for the final, took two to get out of a greenside bunker to lose the next, but that was followed by Gallagher double-bogeying the 408-yard 29th, his approach flying wide of the green into another horrid spot.
Halves at the next two made it five-up with five to go and Gallagher conceded after finding sand on the 32nd.
"I just ran out of gas at the end, but it's been a brilliant week," he said.
On his grip he commented: "I just picked it up like that. I once changed to orthodox for two to three weeks and everything went wrong.
"When I joined a club people told me I'd only get better if I changed, but I've always kept improving, so I never have."
By 17 he was down to a scratch handicap, he now plays off plus-two and after winning the Swanston junior title three times he has won the senior crown on four occasions and in April captured the Craigmillar Park Open.
"There might be better golfers than me, but it's about getting the ball in the hole," he added after knocking out fellow Scots Bryan Fotheringham and the highly-rated Lloyd Saltman to reach the final.
McElhinney had earlier ended English hopes, beating Lytham Trophy winner Gary Lockerbie in the quarter-finals and then 16-year-old rising star Oliver Fisher, who was striving to become the youngest-ever holder of a trophy first contested in 1885.
McElhinney's European amateur victory earned him a spot in last year's Open. He played with Jim Furyk and Fredrik Jacobson, but his two rounds of 76 meant he missed the cut by seven strokes.
