Heading into the 2024 Irish amateur championship season, Matthew McClean had done just about everything an elite amateur could ever hope to do. Except win an Irish title.
A serial contender at the top end of Irish championships McClean has moved up a level in his amateur career since 2022.
That year he won the US Mid Amateur title in Erin Hills, beating Royal Dublin’s Hugh Foley in the decider to become the first Irish winner of a USGA event. That opened doors to major championship debuts at the Masters and US Opens.
2023 saw the Malone man play on the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team at St Andrews, but even then there had been disappointing losses in Irish championships none more so than the 2022 Flogas Irish Men’s Amateur Open Championship at the Island.
Leading the 2022 Flogas Irish Men’s Amateur Open Championship by four shots coming down the stretch, McClean stumbled to the clubhouse and was pipped by Colm Campbell in a playoff on a thrilling final day.
Last May he got his revenge as he turned the tables on Liam Nolan at County Sligo Golf Club to clinch his maiden Irish title and rubber-stamp all the success he has enjoyed over the last three seasons.
“It’s my first Irish championship, I came close quite a few times, too many to think about, specifically two years ago lost in a playoff. This is one I really wanted to win after 2022 but I wanted to play as aggressive golf as possible,” said McClean who ground out a round of 69 after some late drama in Rosses Point.
“The Irish Am is always number one on the list.
“An Irish championship was the main thing I was trying to achieve after the last few years,” added the Belfast based optometrist.
“It didn’t really matter which one it was. Obviously nice that it was the Irish Amateur and get a bit of revenge for 2022!
“That was a tough one to swallow at the time but it’s great to get your name in the winner’s circle.”
Amazingly, he often thinks back to that harrowing loss at the Island but it is a credit to his attitude that he used that negative experience and turned it into a positive as motivation to finally get over the line.
“Winning is a big hurdle to get over,” the 30-year-old stated. “I go back to the Irish Am in 2022 because that was the first time I was really in contention and leading one of those high-class fields. I learned that this was one of the first times I was in that position, and I struggled to get over the line.
“I felt the disappointment was quite high, but I always say if I had won that week, I don’t know how the rest of the year would have gone. It was one of the biggest negatives that I turned into a positive to use to my advantage.”