A senior at Marquette University in Milwaukee with ambitions to try his hand at the professional game but also an overseas Life Member of Lahinch, the 21-year-old from North Shore Country Club was taken to the 18th just once in his six matches and proved a worthy winner as he followed in the footsteps of Lahinch’s 1968 champion JD Smyth by lifting the 122nd edition of the championship.
“It sounds unbelievable,” Adler said of his win, which he closed out with a three-foot par putt at the 16th where he made the first hole in one of his career to close out his quarter-final win.
“I was talking to my dad walking up and it still hasn’t sunk in yet. I don’t know when it will, but it’s very surreal. This whole week is just kind of felt surreal.”
Doran, who showed his progression as a championship player of note when he beat Galgorm Castle’s Joshua Hill one up in the morning semi-finals, proved a gritty opponent in the final.
But the deadly putting that got him to the final afternoon deserted him somewhat in the decider against Adler, who showed his firepower with a 5 and 4 win over veteran Pat Murray (53) in his semi-final.
After halves in par at the first, the players swapped wins at the next six holes before Adler birdied the eighth and ninth to go two-up, then claimed the 10th in par to secure a three-up lead.
Doran missed good birdie chances to win the 11th and 12th, but while he got back to two down twice in the next three holes, winning the 13th in birdie after driving the green and the 15th with a two-putt par, Adler closed out the match at the par-three 16th that will remain his favourite hole for some time to come.
He’d made a 40-footer there to beat Lahinch’s Jonathan Keane in the last 32, then made the first hole in one of his career with impeccable timing there on Saturday to close out a 4 and 2 quarter-final win over Slieve Russell’s Shane McDermott.
This time, he made a three-foot putt, which he admits will rival his ace for significance and memorability, as it meant South of Ireland glory.
Doran came up inches short of the right-hand bunker and pitched to 10 feet before Adler splashed out to three feet from the sand.
But Doran would lip out for par and Adler nervelessly stepped up and rolled in the putt, sparking joyous celebrations from “Paddy’s Army” comprising his friends, brother, father Richard and Dublin-born mother, Katherine.
“It’s been unreal,” he said after winning in just his third appearance in the championship. “I’ve played in tournaments where people have been watching but nothing like the crowds out here.
“The first year, we had probably 10 people watching me in the round of 64, and they started calling themselves Paddy’s Army. And Paddy’s army was in full force today.
“Being an American playing this event, you never know what side the fans are going to be on because I might be a bit of an intruder.
“But it felt unbelievable to have the support. When I lost a hole, they were always there to egg me on and push me to keep fighting.”
After etching his name on the famous old trophy alongside the likes of Paul McGinley and major winners Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell, he added: “Anytime I tell anybody over in the States that I’m coming to play in the South of Ireland, they wouldn’t necessarily know how big of an event it is.
“They’d be like, ‘Why are you going all the way over to Ireland to plan an event?’ But it’s a legit event with some legit past winners. Like Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley. Huge names.
“Even eating lunch up there, an older man was sitting next to us and my dad introduced us as the last man from Lahinch to win the South, JD Smyth in 1968.
“That gave me some extra motivation,” Adler admitted. “He told me, ‘You’re playing great, keep on going’.”
Adler did just that.
As for which shot was more memorable, the three-foot putt or the hole-in-one, he said, “That’s a tough one, but I think the three-footer trumps it over the hole-in-one, honestly.
“Just to have my name on the South of Ireland trophy, it’s what I’ve dreamed of since I came out to Lahinch for the first time.”
South of Ireland Amateur Open Championship, sponsored by Pierse Motors VW, Lahinch
Semi-finals
Patrick Adler (North Shore, USA) bt Pat Murray (Tramore) 5/4;
Brian Doran (Millicent) bt Joshua Hill (Galgorm Castle) 1 up.
Final
Adler bt Doran 3/2.