Sugrue an Irish champion at Portmarnock and it's a Toy story at Royal County Down

   Call it the luck of the Irish if you will, but with The Open Championship coming to Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland later this month and The Amateur Championship staged at Portmarnock outside Dublin a couple of weeks ago, it seemed only fitting that an Irishman, 22-year-old James Sugrue, would capture the title in front of several thousand fully supportive fans.

   Sugrue became just the eighth Irish winner of The Amateur Championship and the first Irishman to win the title since Alan Dunbar claimed it in 2012 with a hard-fought 1-up victory over stubborn Scot Euan Walker in the scheduled 36-hole final that went the distance June 22.

   Sugrue and Walker, who was No. 71 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) entering The Amateur Championship, will likely be teammates in September when captain Nathaniel Crosby and Team USA take on Great Britain & Ireland in the Walker Cup Match at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England.

   It looked like it was going to be easy when Sugrue, who entered the Championship at No. 231 in the WAGR, won the first three holes and had a 5-up lead after nine holes in the morning.

   But by the time the pair reached the ninth hole the second time around, Walker had cut his deficit to just 1-down by winning the 26^th hole. Sugrue restored a 2-up edge by taking the 28^th hole with a birdie. But Walker won the 31^st with a birdie and finally squared the match when Sugrue made a bogey at the 33^rd hole.

   Sugrue finally got a nose in front again by winning the 35^th hole with a par and the 36^th hole was halved with bogeys as the Irish fans celebrated a native son capturing The Amateur Championship on the Old Sod.

   A day earlier Sugrue reached the final by taking out Australian David Micheluzzi, who entered the Championship at No. 7 in the WAGR, 3 and 1.

   Walker was a 2 and 1 winner over England’s Benjamin Jones in the semifinals. Earlier in the day, Walker pulled out a victory on the 19^th hole over fellow Scot Sandy Scott in a quarterfinal thriller.

   Thomas Plumb, a 20-year-old from England, and Denmark’s John Axelson, a junior at Florida, shared medalist honors in qualifying at 4-under 139. Portmarnock plays to a par of 72 and the other qualifying site was The Island, a par-71 layout.

   Scott, who finished tied for fifth in the Big 12 Championship at The Greenbrier as a junior at Texas Tech in the spring, was a shot behind the top two in qualifying at 3-under 140.

   There wasn’t much of an American representation at Portmarnock, but Cameron Sisk, the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year at Arizona State, acquitted himself quite nicely.

   Sisk finished in a tie for 29^th in qualifying with rounds of 73 and 72 for a 2-over 145 total. He reached the quarterfinals in match play before falling to the Aussie Micheluzzi, 1-up.

   A week earlier, England’s Emily Toy outdueled college golf stars present and future to claim the title in the Women’s Amateur Championship at Royal County Down in Northern Ireland.

   The 21-year-old Toy became the first English woman to win the Championship since reigning AIG Women’s British Open champion Georgia Hall captured the title in 2013. When Hall begins defense of her AIG Women’s British Open crown next month at Woburn, Toy, who entered The Women’s Amateur Championship at No. 450 in the Women’s WAGR, will also be in the field.

   In the June 15 final at Royal County Down, Toy edged New Zealander Amelia Garvey, who helped Southern California reach match play in the NCAA Championship at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. in May, 1-up, in the 18-hole final.

   Both players birdied the third hole before Garvey grabbed a 1-up lead when Toy bogeyed the fifth hole. Toy answered immediately with a birdie at the sixth hole to even things up. Toy made bogey at the 11^th hole to fall 1-down, but Garvey returned the favor with a bogey at the 14^th hole that enabled Toy to draw even again.

   Toy missed an opportunity to take the lead when she three-putted the 16^th hole, but given another opportunity to pull in front at the 17^th, she did not miss, burying a 20-foot birdie putt to take a 1-up lead. The 18^th was halved with pars and Toy was the unlikely winner.

   Earlier in the day, Toy pulled out a 2-up victory over Sweden’s Linn Grant, at No. 25 the highest-rated player in the Women’s WAGR among the final four, in a semifinal match. Grant, who has risen to No. 12 in the Women’s WAGR in the aftermath of her showing at Royal County Down, will join the Arizona State program later this summer.

   Garvey reached the final with a 3 and 1 victory over Finland’s Daniella Barrett, who will join the Miami program later this summer.

   If Grant wasn’t tough enough in the semifinals, Toy had to get past another Swede, Beatrice Wallin, who was coming off an outstanding freshman season at Florida State. Toy edged Wallin, 1-up.

   Medalist honors in qualifying went to 19-year-old English woman Hannah Screen, who put together rounds of 69 and 70 for a 7-under 139 total. The runnerup was Italy’s Angelica Moresco, a junior at Alabama who matched Screen’s opening-round 69 before adding a 72 to finish two shots behind Screen at 5-under 141.

   The top American in qualifying was Baylor junior Gurleen Kaur of Houston, who shared third place with Garvey, the eventual finalist, at 2-under 144.

   Kaur was ousted in the first round of match play by Switzerland’s Vanessa Knecht on the 19^th hole. Knecht played a key role as a freshman in Wake Forest’s run to the Final Match in the NCAA Championship at The Blessings, where the Demon Deacons fell to Atlantic Coast Conference rival Duke.