Cannon beats cold for beautiful South victory
SLEEPLESS in Lahinch on Sunday night due to a heavy cold and Robbie Cannon was ready to quit the South of Ireland championship.
Boy, was he glad he didn't, as yesterday the 30-year-old Dubliner was crowned champion in the 108th staging of this prestigious GUI 'Major.'
Cannon (30) representing Laytown and Bettystown, but also a member of Balbriggan -- where he learned his golf -- played near immaculate golf to defeat gallant Gary O'Flaherty of Cork by
4&3 in the final.
In one sense, it was a case of 'beware the injured golfer' as Cannon revealed that in the early rounds of Sunday and Monday he was concentrating on just surviving each day's golf.
rotten
"I felt so rotten after getting no sleep on Sunday that I was thinking I wouldn't play on.
"I went out to the practice ground to hit some balls on Monday morning. I had decided if I wasn't hitting them well, I'd give it up.
"Luckily I did hit good shots, so I decided to keep going," he said.
The two finalists were in uncharted territory as neither had previously reached the final.
Cannon beat Eamonn Haugh of Castletroy 3&1 in his semi-final, while 34-year-old O'Flaherty had an intriguing clash with best friend and Irish champion Pat Murray of Limerick.
O'Flaherty had been best man at Murray's wedding and was best man in their golf match as he won by 2 and 1.
Cannon was ready and eager for the fray. After winning his semi-final he declared: "I feel I belong here. That didn't faze me at all."
And after the final he said: "Out there today I didn't feel any pressure. I never had any doubt I was going to win."
This was not arrogance. Over the last two days Cannon has exuded an ease with himself and his game, highlighted by a sweet swing rhythm which hardly faltered.
He has been helped by St Margaret's pro John Kelly in dealing with a problem hip injury which kept him out of golf for a long spell last year.
Kelly is a disciple of the body and technique monitoring system of the Titleist Performance Institute in California, where Padraig Harrington annually undergoes tests and monitoring to ensure that body and swing are in harmony.
"The lay-off last year really whetted my appetite and I've felt a good tournament performance was very close," said Cannon who confirmed that by dominating the final.
The Laytown man was three-up after nine, four-up after 14 and finished the match on the 15th.
He was one-under-par for the 15 holes, and hit eight out of 12 possible fairways. Those he missed were in no trouble in light rough.
Of the 15 greens, he hit 10 in regulation and had 24 putts for the 15 holes, with one sand save out of two attempts.
O'Flaherty was four over for the 15 holes; hit six of 12 fairways; seven of 15 greens; took 27 putts and made two sand saves from two attempts.
Details
South of Ireland Golf championship
At Lahinch -- Semi-finals: R Cannon (Laytown/Bettystown) bt E Haugh (Castletroy) 3&1; G O'Flaherty (Cork) bt P Murray (Limerick) 2&1.
Final: Cannon bt O'Flaherty 4&3.
