Dermot McElroy
COUNTY SLIGO, IRELAND (March 28, 2016)--Another
36-holes are in the books at the West of Ireland Open
and the final four has been determined. The semifinals
in the countries first major of the year will be played
tomorrow morning at The County Sligo Golf Club with
the championship match to follow in the afternoon
SEMIFINAL MATCHES
Colm Campbell vs. Daniel Holland
Dermot McElroy vs. Jonathan Yates
The headline name remaining in the field is the
defending champion Dermot McElroy. He will be looking
to be the first repeat champion of event since Rory
McIlroy took home the trophy in 2005 and 2006.
McElroy advanced to the semifinals following wins
over Cathal Butler (3&2) in the round of 16 and Kevin
LeBlanc (2 up) in the quarterfinals.
His opponent in the semifinals tomorrow will be
Jonathan Yates. "This afternoon everything clicked and
I literally did not miss a shot," said Yates to Golfnet
following his round.
In the final 16 Yates upended qualifier Harry
Duggan (5&4) before defeating Matthew Kane (6&5) in
the round of eight. All in all it was an easy day of work
for Yates.
2014 East of Ireland champion Colm Campbell
punched his ticket to the semifinals with wins over Des
Morgan (1 up) and local favorite, medalist winner, Sean
Flanagan (3&2). Campbell had the highlight shot of the
day with a hole-in-one on the par-three fourth in his
first match against Morgan.
"Hopefully I can maintain the form going into
tomorrow and hopefully I can be standing here
tomorrow evening as West of Ireland champion," said
Campbell after his two wins.
He will be facing Daniel Holland in final four
tomorrow morning. Holland won in the round of 16 2&1
over Aaron Grant then defeated Gavin Fitzmaurice
(2&1) in the afternoon matches. This will be the first
time that Holland has competed as a semifinalist in a
major championship.
-Golfnet contributed to this story
ABOUT THE
West of Ireland Open Amateur
From 1923 through 2018, the West of Ireland was a
match play tournament but the format was switched
to 72 holes of stroke play in 2019 before reverting to
match play in 2022. Originally held in
July, it was moved to coincide with Easter but now it is
played in April to open the Irish
competitive calendar each year.
View Complete Tournament Information