Teenager Sean Keeling was gutted not to win the AIG Irish Amateur Close on Sunday but he looks set to receive a boost this week in the shape of an invitation to join superstars Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry in September’s Amgen Irish Open at Royal County Down.
The leading Irishman in the World Amateur Golf Ranking—30th-ranked Max Kennedy—will receive one of two invitations allocated to Golf Ireland by the DP World Tour.
The other goes to the player who won the most WAGR points from a mini Order of Merit comprising the St Andrews Links Trophy, the Amateur Championship, the European Individual Championship and the AIG Irish Men’s Close.
While Golf Ireland will not confirm the official recipient until the World Amateur Golf Rankings are updated later this week, WAGR has already posted the points breakdown for the Irish Close at Dun Laoghaire.
The result was good news for Junior Ryder Cup star Keeling (17), who tied for fourth to edge out fellow Made in Holywood Academy player Royal Dublin’s Hugh Foley by 0.2189 rankings points over the four-event series.
Kennedy was guaranteed to be the leading Irish player on WAGR, but Keeling faced competition from Foley and Malone’s Matt McClean for the mini Order of Merit spot in Dun Laoghaire.
Jet-legged after travelling home from the US Amateur at Hazeltine in Minnesota, McClean withdrew after a poor first round.
But Irish Boys champion Keeling, who was bidding to become the youngest Irish Close winner since McIlroy won at 17 in 2007, forged a four-shot lead heading into Sunday’s final 36 holes
But while he made a quintuple bogey nine early in a third-round 79 to see his title chances evaporate, he rallied to finish tied for fourth and pick up just enough WAGR points to claim his Irish Open debut.
Foley, who was denied a place in The Masters and the US Open when he lost to McClean in the 2022 US Mid-Amateur final two years ago, went on to finish third, just three shots outside a playoff that saw Edmondstown’s Thomas Abom beat home player Richard Sykes at the second tie hole.
Keeling was unsure of his Irish Open fate on Sunday night and simply vowed to learn from his mistakes as he prepared to head to Texas Tech — the college that nurtured Swedish star Ludvig Aberg — on a golf scholarship yesterday.
“There’s a lot of good in there this week, but the nine and then two doubles just cost me the tournament, really,” Keeling said. “It’s frustrating, but it is what it is and I am happy to learn from it and get better.”
