Belfast's Michael Sinclair put his emotions in check to capture the East of Ireland title at Baltray yesterday.

The 31 year old Knock golfer shot a final round 74 to win by four shots from Scrabo's Andrew McCormick on one under under par and immediatley dedicated his win to his late friend Estelle Gibson.

Four ahead of clubhouse leader Andrew McCormick with three to play, he three putted the 16th but rifled a five iron to 15 feet at the par three 17th to close out the championship with a birdie.

Afterwards, Sinclair admitted that he had considered skipping the championship after the recent death of his close friend.

He said: "My friend William Gibson lost his wife Estelle to cancer at the age of just 29, 10 days ago. I wasn't going to play here but I'm glad I did now and I dedicate this to title to Estelle. It puts everything in perspective."

Sinclair was the only man to break par for the championship where the real winner was the renovated 7,000 yard Co Louth links that reduced the best players in the country to their knees.

Despite brilliant sunshine on the final day, a stiff breeze and firm greens played havoc with field and only McCormick and Banbridge's Richard Kilpatrick with third round 69s managed to break par all day yesterday.

Overnight leader Mark Campbell of Stackstown crashed to a 15 over par 87 in the morning to blow his chances of the title.

And youngster Derek McNamara saw his hopes go up in flames when dropped seven shots in the final five holes for a horrendous third round 80.

Mullingar's John Morris carded a level par 72 to trail Sinclair by just one stroke with a round to go.

The Cork born player was just two adrift of Sinclair with nine to play but made seven bogeys in a row from the ninth for a closing 81 to finish on seven over.

"When I was two ahead after nine I felt I could win, " Sinclair said. "Then heard that that John Morris had dropped a few shots on the back nine and I relaxed a little.

"But I really had to grind it out. I hit a lot of fairways and made very few mistakes which was the key."

Kilpatrick finished third on five over par with Slieve Russell's Eddie McCormack in fourth on six over after rounds of 78 and 74 yesterday.

East of Ireland Amateur Open, final scores (par 72)

287 M Sinclair (Knock) 69 72 72 74

291 A McCormick (Scrabo) 70 76 69 76

293 R Kilpatrick (Banbridge) 73 76 69 75

294 E McCormack (Slieve Russell) 69 73 78 74

295 J Foster (Ballyclare) 74 72 74 75, J Morris (Mullingar) 67 75 72 81

296 T Cleary (Cork) 72 73 76 75, N Beirth (Co. Louth) 71 78 74 73, R Cannon (Balbriggan) 71 77 75 73

298 M O'Sullivan (Galway) 74 72 72 80, C Montgomery (Malone) 72 77 76 73, D Baker (Downpatrick) 71 74 76 77

299 S Paul (Tandragee) 72 74 72 81, D McNamara (Connemara) 70 72 80 77, D Crowe (Dunmurry) 69 76 74 80

300 A McCloy (Ballymena) 75 74 74 77, R Boal (Scrabo) 74 72 76 78, K Leahy (Mill Ride (UK)) 72 74 79 75, M Murphy (Waterville) 72 74 78 76, G Mallon (North West) 72 72 79 77

301 C Martin (Nenagh) 75 73 77 76, R Leonard (Banbridge) 73 73 77 78, N Kavanagh (Westport) 71 75 75 80, D Kelleher (Portmarnock) 70 77 74 80, P Lyons (Cork) 70 75 79 77, A Morrow (Portmarnock) 70 75 76 80, B McElhinney (North West) 69 74 77 81

302 P Murray (Limerick) 77 71 82 72, J Mulready (Castle) 77 71 76 78, R McCarthy (The Island) 75 75 78 74, B Reddan (Co. Louth) 75 74 74 79, C Brown (Royal Portrush) 71 75 78 78, A Morris (Belvoir Park) 70 77 77 78, M Campbell (Stackstown) 70 70 87 75

303 A Dowling (Hermitage) 74 75 78 76, C Cunningham (Mullingar) 70 79 76 78

304 R Forsythe (Hilton Templepatrick) 74 74 75 81, D Moran (The Island) 71 73 81 79, F O'Donoghue (Belvoir Park) 70 77 75 82

305 M McDermott (Stackstown) 75 75 77 78, P Purdy (Shandon Park) 72 73 78 82

306 H Hanley (Grange) 76 71 79 80, J Brady (Edenderry) 73 76 77 80, L Ryan (Stackstown) 73 75 79 79

307 S Crowe (Dunmurry) 74 75 78 80, M Ryan (Grange) 72 77 77 81

308 G Bohill (Co. Louth) 71 76 80 81

309 P McGrath (Dromoland) 75 75 82 77, G Hall (Edenderry) 70 76 79 84

310 M McGinley (Grange) 74 76 79 81

RT D Dunne (Royal Dublin) 76 74 82 RT

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© Brian Keogh 2003

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