When Rory McIlroy confirmed he was to miss The Open with injury, many Irish fans felt the chances of an Irish winner at St Andrews has greatly reduced. While former winners Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke were in the field and had an outstanding links pedigree, the eyes of the Irish golfing public turned to Shane Lowry or Graeme McDowell lifting the Claret Jug.
One name that was not mentioned was Paul Dunne. The Greystones native was the fifth Irish player in the field and had qualified as an amateur for the second year in a row for golf's oldest major. He missed the cut by two shots last year and when comfortably making the cut this year, the Irish public assumed his work was done.
According to the World Amateur Golf Rankings, Dunne is only Ireland's fifth best golfer and is ranked 80th in the World. The 22 year old travelled to America after an excellent junior career in Ireland to play at the University of Alabama, the alma matter of the former US Open champion McDowell.
While based in Birmingham, Dunne travelled across the Atlantic on numerous occasions and won the 2013 East of Ireland at Baltray. He also played for Europe in the Palmer Cup last year. The tournament, named after Arnold Palmer is a Ryder Cup style event for collegiate golfers. He graduated from UAB earlier this year with a Degree in Business Finance, which he said he could fall back on if his golfing career never took off.
Few holes with this ripper today!
A photo posted by Paul Dunne (@pauldunne11) on Jul 15, 2015 at 9:28am PDT
In his final year in college he finished fifth in the NCAA Division 1 Mens Golf Championship. The tournament has a prestigious history with Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Luke Donald among the recent winners.
He is looking to become the third winner of the Irish Youth Amateur Championships to win The Open. He plays today with won of the winners Louis Oosthuizen. The other winner, Padraig Harrington starts only two shots off the lead.
If Dunne wins The Open later today, he will become the first player to do so since Bobby Jones in 1930. He is also the leading amateur at the event and if he finishes in that position he will become the first Irish player to win the silver medal since Rory McIlroy did in 2007.
The Greystones native plans to turn professional after the Walker Cup later this year. If he wins The Open, he will not win the £1.1million prize money but will etch his name in golfing history and of course, keep the historic Claret Jug.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
