Browne's break from the bank begins to pay dividend

The lure of the fairways will always beat the attraction of counting other people's money, and that's exactly what persuaded Stephen Browne to give up his day job as a banker so that he could concentrate on his golf game.

So far, the bold move has also been a wise one! Yesterday, under a blazing sun, Browne was among four players - along with Justin Kehoe, Michael McGinley and David Mortimer - who safely, and authoritatively, negotiated a route into the semi-finals stage of the South of Ireland Amateur Championship, sponsored by Irish Shell.

Intriguingly, he was the only one from a quintet of Irish players who had reached the final of the recent European Team Championship competing here to do so.

It was his defeat in the semi-finals of the Irish Close in Killarney two years ago that convinced Browne it wasn't possible to play competitive golf at the highest level and work, which prompted his decision to take a two-year break from banking. And that sabbatical may be extended even further if his plans to attend the European Tour qualifying school later this year prove fruitful.

"I looked at every department of my game. Mental, physical, and swing. Read all the Bob Rotella books; worked with my coach Simon Byrne, and I have also benefited from playing full-time golf for the past two years. You simply can't compete if you're not full-time," said Browne, who followed up a fifth round win over Adrian Morrow with a two-holes victory over another international, Andy McCormick, in the afternoon quarter-finals.

Browne, in fact, was one down to McCormick at the turn but levelled matters on the 10th where, despite driving into rough and laying-up short of the green, he managed a winning par. The match was still all-square as they stood on the 17th tee but McCormick found heavy rough off his drive and, with a poor stance to compound matters, was again in rough with his second. A regulation par was sufficient to give Browne a vital edge as they walked to the final hole.

Using a four-wood for safety on the 533-yards par-five finishing hole, Browne was to find himself a long way behind McCormick by the time he came to play a seven-wood approach shot. That was to be the last time he was required to play, though.

McCormick, requiring only a four-iron approach, pulled his shot over the boundary wall into the army base across the road which led to early handshakes all round.

If Browne, who was capped for the first time in the Europeans, made somewhat expected progress, the advance of his semi-final opponent David Mortimer, of Connemara, was less expected. Mortimer stands 6' 4" but was still shorter than the player he beat in the quarter-final, Gary Cullen.

Mortimer (25), learned how to play his golf on the nine-hole course at Renvyle House - where the course is known as Pebble Beach, a fact that has displeased Clint Eastwood - and is a hardened interprovincial player with Connacht. But he has moved impressively into new territory, reaching the last four of a major championship for the first time.

He didn't take long to take the initiative in his match with Cullen. A sequence of three wins from the fourth to the sixth, including two birdies, gave him an advantage he never relinquished on his way to a 3 and 2 win.

There was much to admire, too, about the way Kehoe, a current Irish international, dealt with the challenge of Michael McDermott, winner of the West of Ireland earlier this season and Kehoe's foursomes partner on his international debut in the Home Internationals at Carnoustie last year.

Kehoe, who had earlier disposed of Mark Campbell, including an eagle two at the 13th in his win, took his second Stackstown scalp of the day with a one-hole win over McDermott. Two up at the turn, two poor back-to-back three-putts at the 10th and 11th brought them level - and, as if to show the fickleness of golf, Kehoe then played the 13th poorly by driving into thick rough and putting his recovery into a greenside bunker to go one down.

On the 15th, however, Kehoe produced what was probably the shot of the day. With 220 yards to the flag, off a tight fairway lie into the wind, he hit a four-wood so sweetly that he was walking after it almost immediately. The ball nestled three feet from the hole and, with McDermott finding trouble short right, the match was again level. And the UCD graduate regained the lead crucially on the 17th where McDermott three-putted for a costly bogey.

Meanwhile, McGinley's renaissance continued unabated. Winner of the North of Ireland in 1996, McGinley has hardly contended in any championship since then. A broken leg, sustained playing soccer some 14 months ago, put an end to any aspirations he held last season - and the Grange player's form this season hardly indicated he would make such a march on the South, where he was among those forced to come through the first round of qualifying.

McGinley has hardly put a foot wrong, though. Yesterday, he finished his fifth round match with Michael McGeady on the 14th and, then, fashioned out a 3 and 2 win over Roderick de Lacy Staunton - who had caused a huge upset in the morning with a 6 and 5 win over Noel Fox - in the quarter-finals.

Fifth Round - R de Lacy Staunton (Royal Hong Kong) bt N Fox (Portmarnock) 6 and 5; M McGinley (Grange) bt M McGeady (City of Derry) 5 and 4; J Kehoe (UCD/Birr) bt M Campbell (Stackstown) 5 and 4; M McDermott (Stackstown) bt D McInerney (Lahinch) 2 holes; S Browne (Hermitage) bt A Morrow (Portmarnock) 5 and 4; A McCormick (Scrabo) bt R Cannon (Balbriggan) 4 and 3; G Cullen (Beaverstown) bt S McTernan (Co Sligo) 2 and 1; D Mortimer (Connemara) bt G McNeill (Waterford) at 19th. Quarter-finals: McGinley bt de Lacy Staunton 3 and 2; Kehoe bt McDermott 1 hole; Browne bt McCormick 2 holes; Mortimer bt Cullen 3 and 2. Today's semi-finals: 8.30: McGinley v Kehoe. 9.00: Browne v Mortimer. Final at 2 p.m.