Sport
Fleming clinches third National Matchplay title
Killarney pitch and putt legend Damien Fleming added another All-Ireland title to his impressive honours list over the long weekend when he won the National Matchplay Championship at the Ryston Club in Newbridge, County Kildare.
The Deerpark star has now won the prestigious title three times with two of those triumphs coming in the last three years. Fleming has also claimed the Irish Open on three occasions, as well as the National Senior Strokeplay Championship in 2018.
The Killarney man’s most recent victory was made all the more noteworthy by the fact that he overcame Cork’s Ray Murphy – a player whom Fleming describes as the GOAT – in the final.
“It’s always nice to win them,” Fleming told the Killarney Advertiser. “To be honest, I don’t tend to dwell on them too much, but they are all special in their own way. Beating the greatest player of all time in the final makes it even more special from that point of view.”
After surviving a major scare against Nenagh’s Steven Shoer in the first round (1up), Fleming defeated James Foley Jr of Enniscorthy (2&1), James Cleary of Cashel (4&3), Peter O’Donovan of Bishopstown (2&1), and Ian Dillon of Kildare (2&1) to secure his place in Monday’s final. By then, after a sluggish start to the weekend, he was firing on all cylinders.
“I went a bit stale against Shoer in the first round and missed a couple of easy putts. I played myself into trouble. Fortunately enough I birdied the last three holes and got myself out of it. In reality, I probably should have been beaten. But I lived to tell the tale.
“I didn’t play great on Sunday morning against James Foley Jr but I always felt I was in control of the match. I was playing a formidable opponent from Tipperary in the next round, James Cleary, and I knew I’d have to play better if I wanted to stay in the competition.
“And then, to be honest with you, from that match on it was like I went into a different gear. I was consistently shooting double figures every round and I didn’t really feel as though I was in trouble in any game.”
The final hurdle against six-time champion Murphy promised to be Fleming’s most difficult task, and the match-up was made even more intriguing by the fact that the pair are close friends off the course.
“I know him well and we had played a few times in matchplay. Fortunately enough, he hadn’t beaten me, so I wanted to make sure that record stood! But his record speaks for itself. That was his 10th time playing in the matchplay final and he has reached 14 semi-finals, so there was no doubt that it was going to be a tough one.
“But I got off to a flyer and was -13 for the first round. I was comfortable enough from that point on really.”
Fleming is now looking forward to the National Senior Strokeplay Championship in September, a competition he has already secured qualification for on the back of his fourth-place finish at the same event last year.
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