Past Winners - Padraig Harrington 2007

O'Leary with Harrington in 2007

An Irishman captured the European PGA Tour's 2007 Irish Open Sunday for the first time in 25 years and follows in the footsteps of John O'Leary, who won the event in Portmanock in 1982

Padraig Harrington survived a sudden-death playoff against Bradley Dredge of Wales to take home the title at the Irish Open at Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Resort.

Harrington needed just one hole in the playoff: He made par to Dredge's bogey. Both players finished at 5-under-par for the tournament, four ahead of the rest of the field.

"I felt the pressure. It was probably the most nervous I've been for many a tournament," Harrington told Reuters. "I've always said that after the four Majors this is the next event I've wanted to win. The crowd was fantastic. Even when I saved for bogey they cheered and the applause definitely gave me a boost."

The win puts Harrington in third play on the European PGA Tour's Order of Merit; only Henrik Stenson and Retief Goosen are above him. the win also puts Harrington back into the world's top 10 rankings.

Harrington's Sunday started off slowly, with bogeys at the par-4 second and fifth. But Harrington rebounded, going birdie-birdie-eagle on the seventh, eighth and ninth.

But he slipped back to the field on his homestretch, with bogeys at the par-3 11th and 17th.

Meanwhile, Dredge was making a charge, with birdies on seven of his last 12 holes, making up a four-stroke deficit on the back nine to force a playoff.

"My long game wasn't great but I hit enough good iron shots close and putted well," said Dredge. "I had a chip in on 14th and knew I had to stay focused. I knew my short game was good enough to battle it out and hope he made a few bogeys as well. In the end it was just one of those things on the last.

"Before I went out I knew I had to shoot a good score and had a good run at the end of the front nine, kept my head down and played my own game. It is just frustrating to give it to him the way I did in the end."

Simon Wakefield of England drained a 30-foot birdie put on his last hole to move into sole possession of third place, at 1-under-par, the only other player to finish under par this week.

May 21, 2007

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Europe Wins St Andrews Trophy

The Continent of Europe recorded a famous first St Andrews Trophy win on Great Britain and Ireland soil after a determined team performance at a windswept Portmarnock Golf Club north of Dublin.

Alex Godillot's side had it all to do after trailing Great Britain and Ireland (GB&I) 7-5 heading into the final day. They won the morning foursomes 3-1 to level proceedings before edging a dramatic singles session 4.5-3.5 to secure victory, 12.5-11.5.

It was a double celebration for Europe as the under-18 stars from the Continent also defeated their GB&I opponents to win back the Jacques Leglise Trophy 13.5-10.5.

This was only Europe's fifth win in the biennial St Andrews Trophy compared to the GB&I tally of 24 since the competition began in 1956.

However, Alexis Godillot's European side arrived in Ireland as defending champions after their 2010 win in Italy and they made full use of some good fortune and fine play on a testing final day.

The winning point came from Moritz Lampert against Ireland's Kevin Phelan in the final match and the German closed out the match in style.

Needing just a half point to retain the title and a win to secure overall victory, Lampert was one up playing the 17th where his approach just ran off the back off the green. Phelan found the green but missed his par putt and the stage was set.

Lampert kept his composure and rather than the drama extending to the 18th, he holed from 20 feet for birdie and sealed the famous win.

"I'm very happy and a bit surprised for we have never won on British (and Irish) territory," said Godillot, who played on the European team the last time the event was played at Portmarnock back in 1968.

"It was a very close contest and for once we had a bit more luck than the British and Irish, especially coming down the final few singles matches."

Europe enjoyed some fortune when two of the GB&I leading lights failed to convert late advantages into wins. Amateur Champion Alan Dunbar was unlucky with a couple of poor lies but finished with two double bogeys to lose on the 18th to Sweden's Robert Karlsson.

Recently crowned European Amateur Champion Rhys Pugh was three up with four to play but could only manage a halved match against Spain's Jacobo Pastor in the middle order.

In between there were narrow wins for the English trio of Craig Hinton, Garrick Porteous and Neil Raymond but Europe countered with wins from Manuel Trappel, Edouard Espana and Lampert in the bottom matches.

After a thoroughly convincing 4-0 clean sweep in the morning foursomes, Europe's Jacques Leglise side wasted little time closing out the overall match after they won the top two singles matches.

Gary Stangl's side went into the singles 11-5 ahead and only needed one-and-a-half points from the eight. Two points quickly came when Italy's Giulio Castagnara defeated Irish amateur champion Gavin Moynihan by one hole, while fellow Irish teammate Alex Gleeson lost 2&1 to Spain's Mario Galiano.

Although the contest was already decided there was a strong GB&I showing in the rest of the matches.

Max Orrin had been six up through eight holes but had to wait to the 17th to close out his match 2&1 against Renato Paratore. Toby Tree was a convincing 5&4 winner over Sweden's Hannes Ronneblad, Boys Amateur Champion Matthew Fitzpatrick defeated Romain Langasque 2&1, while Ashton Turner dug deep to deny Austria's Matthias Schwab at the 18th.

Scotland's Bradley Neil turned his match around against Victor Tarnstrom to win by two holes and the bottom match between Harry Ellis and Dominic Foos was halved."I am happy that we finally made it. It was closer than we thought in the end," said Stangl. "It was great that our first two guys won their points to get the job done. I'm really delighted and so happy for the team."

Dunbar Selected for St Andrews Trophy

The Great Britain and Ireland (GB&I) teams to face the Continent of Europe in the St Andrews and Jacques Leglise Trophy Matches were announced on Monday with less than two weeks to go before the matches get underway at Portmarnock Golf Club, County Dublin.

Portmarnock Golf Club will host the 29th staging of the biennial St Andrews Trophy Match for men and the 45th annual Jacques Leglise Trophy Match for boys on 31 August and 1 September 2012.

Players include The Amateur Champion, Alan Dunbar and The Boys Amateur Champion, Matthew Fitzpatrick.

The R&A Director – Amateur Events, Euan Mordaunt announces the GB&I teams as:

The St Andrews Trophy Match: Alan Dunbar (Rathmore, IRL), Craig Hinton (The Oxfordshire, ENG), Nathan Kimsey (Woodhall Spa, ENG), Kevin Phelan (Waterford Castle, IRL), Garrick Porteous (Bamburgh Castle, ENG), Rhys Pugh (Vale of Glamorgan, WAL), Neil Raymond (Corhampton, ENG), Graeme Robertson (Glenbervie, SCO) and Ben Taylor (Walton Heath, ENG).

The Jacques Leglise Trophy Match: Harry Ellis (Meon Valley, ENG), Matthew Fitzpatrick (Hallamshire, ENG), Alex Gleeson (Castle, IRL), Patrick Kelly (Boston West, ENG), Gavin Moynihan (The Island, IRL), Bradley Neil (Blairgowrie, SCO), Max Orrin (North Foreland, ENG), Toby Tree (Worthing, ENG) and Ashton Turner (Kenwick Park, ENG).

The St Andrews and Jacques Leglise trophy matches offer spectators a rare opportunity to see some of the world’s best amateur golfers, men and boys, in morning foursome and afternoon singles matches over two days of competition.

In recent contests GB&I has been represented by leading players at the peak of their amateur careers including current World No 1, Rory McIlroy, Padraig Harrington, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Tom Lewis. While the Continent of Europe has counted Ryder Cup Captain, Jose Maria Olazabal, Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer and Edoardo and Francesco Molinari among its ranks.

When both matches were last played together in 2010 at Golf Club Castelconturbia in Milan, Italy, the Continent of Europe were the victors, 14 to 10 in The St Andrews Trophy men’s match and 15½ to 8½ in The Jacques Leglise boys match. Overall, match results favour GB&I 24-4 in the St Andrews Trophy Match and 34-10 in the Jacques Leglise Match.

Portmarnock Golf Club has hosted the St Andrews Trophy Match on one previous occasion in 1968 when GB&I triumphed, 20 -10.

St Andrews Trophy 2012 Squad

A preliminary 12 player Great Britain & Ireland squad has been selected for this year’s St Andrews Trophy Match which will be played at Portmarnock Golf Club, Ireland, on 31 August and 1 September. 

It is a largely new look squad for the match against the Continent of Europe with only Ireland’s Alan Dunbar and Rhys Pugh (pictured) of Wales able to boast previous Walker Cup experience. 

The group features players who have enjoyed success across the globe, including Neil Raymond, winner of the 2012 New South Wales Stroke Play, Paul Shields, who shot a 61 at the recent 2012 Gauteng North Open in South Africa and the University of Alabama’s Jason Shufflebotham who won last year’s prestigious Sam Hall Intercollegiate. 

Among those also showing good form on the US college scene are Ben Taylor, of Nova Southeastern University in Florida, and the University of North Florida’s Kevin Phelan, who finished third and fourth respectively at last week’s Jones Cup Invitational. 

The squad will meet for the first time at Portmarnock from 4-6 July in a match play team environment consisting of two series of foursomes and singles matches. 

Victorious 2011 Walker Cup Captain Nigel Edwards, back to lead a St Andrews Trophy side for a second time, is delighted with the talent at his disposal. 

“We have based our preliminary selection on performances throughout 2011 and will look to add to this squad following the Amateur Championship at Royal Troon in June,” said Edwards, who played on winning St Andrews Trophy teams in 2002, 2004 and 2006. 

“A number of players have started the season well in Australia, South Africa and on the US college circuit. 

“My message to the squad, and those players who narrowly missed out, is to keep playing well through the spring and summer and prove that you should be in the final nine.” 

The selectors, who will attend events throughout the summer, fully expect several players not included in the initial 12-man squad to be in contention for a place in the final nine-man team. 

GB&I Squad

Alan Dunbar - Rathmore 

Rhys Enoch - Truro 

Ben Loughrey - Wrag Barn

Dermot McElroy - Ballymena

Kevin Phelan - Waterford Castle 

Garrick Porteous - Bamburgh Castle 

Rhys Pugh - Vale of Glamorgan

Neil Raymond - Corhampton

Paul Shields - Kirkhill 

Jason Shufflebotham - Prestatyn

Ben Taylor - Walton Heath 

James White - Lundin 

GB&I Selectors

Nigel Edwards, Captain

Jonathan Plaxton, Chairman

Allan Brodie

Michael Burns