Battling Morrow beats the odds

Adrian Morrow is becoming used to showing some fortitude. A number of months ago, when he contracted chronic pneumonia, the possibility of contending for a South of Ireland Amateur Championship he first won back in 1983 was one of the furthest things from his mind.

Yesterday, however, the 46-year-old showed commendable courage of a different sort to book a place in the semi-finals of the Irish Shell-sponsored championship. Now recovered from his illness, "but weak" he confessed, Morrow successfully achieved his fifth win of the campaign - coming from three down after three holes to beat Andrew McCormick by two holes in the quarter-final - and maintain a remarkable love affair with the Lahinch links.

"This is all a bit of a bonus," conceded Morrow of his advancement into today's semi-finals where he will face teenager Mark Campbell. Indeed, Morrow was required to undergo surgery as a result of his illness and didn't play a full round of golf this year until the week before the East of Ireland in June.

So, it was with limited expectations that Morrow, a winner in 1983 and again in 1996, set out in pursuit of a third title at the start of the week. After threes holes of his quarter-final duel with McCormick, who was the last remaining current international in the field after the morning defeats of Ken Kearney and Noel Fox, it seemed that things had finally caught up with him. Not so.

Morrow, in fact, staged a fine recovery and levelled the match with a birdie on the 13th. "It was the sort of day to hang in there," said the experienced Portmarnock player. Appreciative of his battling qualities, the gallery had grown considerably by the time he went ahead with an exceptional up and down from the back of the 15th green where McCormick, a finalist for the past two years, three-putted.

And, after sharing the 16th and 17th in pars, Morrow sealed victory on the 18th where his opponent pushed his approach and duffed his chip out of the rough, then overcooked his next chip and missed the putt. Morrow, with two putts from 15 feet for a winning par, was spared further exertions.

In stark contrast, this is new territory for Campbell, a 19-year-old scholarship student at UCD. Although a noted big-hitter and an international at boys and youths level, Campbell's previous best performances at senior level was to secure places in the last 16 at the North and the Irish Close. He did, however, win the Belgian Youths Open last season and, a number of years ago, when just 15, partnered Padraig Harrington in Barton Shield combat for Stackstown.

Campbell didn't actually edge in front of Hermitage's Stephen Browne until the last green in their quarter-final. Browne went one up at the third, but the next 12 holes were halved until Campbell levelled matters at the 16th where he was conceded an eight foot birdie putt. On the 18th, Campbell hit a huge drive and struck an immaculate three-iron just short of the green and chipped and putted for a winning birdie.

Meanwhile, the American interest was cut to just one - although Jason Semelsberger exit was caused by his compatriot Chris Wisler. In the morning, Semelsberger beat Irish international and East of Ireland champion Kearney by 3 and 2: Kearney was two-under-par for the 16 holes, but the UCLA student was four under. And Wisler advanced into an all-American quarter-final with a comfortable win over Mourne's Bryan Smyth who was somewhat fortunate to play at all given that he was hospitalised in Ennis the previous night with contracted chest muscles before discharging himself.

The Wisler-Semelsberger match was destined for only one outcome, however. Wisler, a student at East Tennessee State where he struck up a friendship with international Eamonn Brady, won three successive holes - the fourth, fifth and sixth - to grab an initiative he never relinquished.

And the task of halting Wisler in his quest to become the first American winner of the title now falls to Balmoral's Peter Martin. A former boys and youths international, Martin beat his Ulster colleague Rory Leonard of Banbrdige by a one hole margin. Martin, conqueror of Fox in the fifth round, had been two up with five to play but lost the 14th and 15th before regaining the lead with a winning par at the 17th which, ultimately, proved decisive.