Portmarnock's Noel Fox won the AIB Irish Amateur Open for the second time after surviving a dramatic back nine charge at Royal Dublin yesterday.

The 29 year old Dubliner was five clear of the field starting the final round and eight clear after a par-eagle-birdie start before he had to struggle.

He eventually signed for a two over par 74 to finish on six under par, two clear of Stuart Manley of Wales and four ahead of England's Jamie Moul.

But his problems began with a 30 minute weather delay on the front nine that disrupted his concentration.

Although he was seven shots clear at the turn, a double bogey the 10th hole reduced his advantage to just five strokes.

"The first chance I had to ponder anything was during the delay and all I could think about was bad things," said Fox afterwards. "Unfortunately they started to come to fruition. Stuart kept making birdies and all I could say was 'good birdie' to him all the time.

"I'm just happy I was able to hang in there and keep my cushion because my insides weren't feeling great.

"But I still feel there is a long way to go to make the Walker Cup side and hopefully this will get me into the Irish side for the European Team Championships in the first week of July."

Manley eventually finished second on four under par after a final round 69 that included seven birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey.

The 24 year old Walker Cup hopeful from Mountain Ash birdied the 14th and 15th to get within three shots of playing partner Fox with three holes remaining.

The gap was down to just two when Fox missed the 17th green and failed to save par from 15 feet.

At the tough 18th the Portmarnock man chipped to six feet having missed the green again and watched anxiously as Manley's 40 foot birdie putt shaved the hole before holing out for a dramatic win and his sixth amateur 'Major'.

AIB Irish Amateur Open at Royal Dublin
Final scores

282 N Fox (Portmarnock) 68 70 70 74
284 S Manley (Wales) 71 70 74 69
286 J Moul (England) 72 71 71 72
287 A Kruger (South Africa) 72 70 73 72
288 J Donaldson (England) 72 73 68 75
289 J Evans (England) 77 70 71 71, M McGeady (City of Derry) 73 76 70 70
292 C Moriarty (Athlone) 74 70 74 74
293 G Evans (England) 73 76 71 73, S Moloney (Castletroy) 73 75 77 68
294 M Campbell (Stackstown) 78 69 76 71, A Ulivo (Finland) 77 75 71 71, M Sinclair (Knock) 77 71 71 75, E Vernon (England) 76 73 74 71, T Cruz (Portugal) 74 74 73 73
295 P Bradshaw (England) 78 71 74 72, B Bunny (Australia) 78 70 74 73, L Corfield (England) 77 68 73 77, E Ramsay (Scotland) 76 73 69 77
296 J Kehoe (Birr) 80 72 74 70, G Wardlow (Shandon Park) 74 73 75 74, D Morgan (Mullingar) 73 73 72 78, R Wellington (South Africa) 72 74 75 75
297 J Foster (Ballyclare) 75 73 72 77, D Morris (Limerick) 74 74 73 76
298 H Santos (Portugal) 78 72 79 69, R McCarthy (The Island) 74 73 74 77, M Mulryan (Athenry) 73 75 74 76
299 F Illouz (France) 76 75 76 72, M Korhonen (Finland) 76 74 77 72
301 M O'Sullivan (Galway) 80 71 74 76, R Kakko (Finland) 75 73 75 78, N Edwards (Wales) 72 78 75 76, J McLeary (Scotland) 72 74 81 74
302 D Crowe (Dunmurry) 79 71 77 75, R Leonard (Banbridge) 74 76 73 79
304 D Berry (England) 77 74 72 81
305 N Beggs (South Africa) 79 69 77 80, J Moore (Laytown & Bettystown) 78 74 78 75, E McCormack (Slieve Russell) 73 77 72 83
310 G Hall (Edenderry) 79 73 83 75
315 J Hutchinson (Royal Dublin) 79 73 80 83

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© Brian Keogh 2003

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