Portumna prodigy streaks to eight shot Irish Boys win with bogey free round

In Portumna, Sam Murphy's talent has been the talk of the town for years.

A gifted golfer with a beautiful swing, on Wednesday, the eighteen year old made the biggest statement of his career to date when he romped up in Thurles to win the Irish under-18 Boys championship by a remarkable eight shots. The Irish Boys amateur close championship is a rite of passage for the game's national heroes and Murphy follows in the footsteps of an illustrious list of past winners which includes 2004 champ Rory McIlroy. This win leaves the youngster in esteemed company, but he has more than earned his place. Carrying a two stroke lead into his third and final round, Murphy carded a bogey free, seven under par 65 on the parkland Tipperary course to streak clear of the field. [caption id="attachment_214198" align="alignnone" width="966"] Murphy carded just six bogeys and had no doubles in his 54 holes to top the leaderboard[/caption] A +3 handicapper and an Irish underage international, Murphy now has the golfing world at his feet with the American universities expected to be queuing up with scholarship offers. Another feather in the youngster's cap is that he has also been crowned the Munster boys champion, the event running hand-in-hand with this one due to the season's various Covid-19 enforced re-arrangements. "I'm over the moon now, it was a really good day today. It's everyone's dream as a boys golfer, to win an Irish under-18 championship and I'm lucky enough to do it." Murphy has also played rugby at a high level, having played at centre for Cistercian College Roscrea's senior cup rugby team this year. Watch the Portumna man reflect on his third round here. https://twitter.com/GUIGolf/status/1293562552639803394 Murphy's closest challenger was Luke Kelly of Belvoir Park who finished on a commendable -4 tally for his three rounds while Cork's Cain Morgan and Laytown's Daniel Mulligan were next best on -2 with first round leader Gavin O'Neill one shot back on -1.