Heartbreak for Naas golfer Hume as he agonisingly misses out on Irish title despite stunning back 9

Naas golfer Jack Hume came within a shot of bringing the Irish Amateur Open to a playoff against Colm Campbell after a stunning performance on the back nine left him within touching distance of the Down native, but it was too little too late as his rival held his nerve to clinch the title.

The fact that Hume even came so close was remarkable seeing as he was six shots behind following a bogey on the fifth hole, but a combination of a blip in the quality of Campbell's play and a serious surge by Hume saw him storm back into contention.

It all started when the 22-year-old struck a birdie on the par 3 ninth, while he also carded birdies at the 13th, 14th, 16th and 18th holes to really pile the pressure on Campbell. The Warrenpoint golfer held his nerve at the final hole however, producing a fine approach putt from 30 yards to leave him within a matter of inches of the hole. It was a simple tap in from there, and despite Hume landing a monster putt from 60 yards to card a birdie at the hole, Campbell took the title with a two under par round of 70.

Hume finished with a score of three under for the day, bringing him to 15 under for the tournament, three ahead of German Maximillian Boegel who finished in third.

“I knew I had to be patient and that there would be chances on the back nine,” said Hume. “It is tough playing with the lead sometimes so you never know if he is going to make a few bad holes so you just have to stay patient and I got off to a good start on the back nine and put a bit of pressure on him. It ended up being very tight.”