Cutler beats pain to clinch Lytham Trophy
Portstewart’s Paul Cutler battled through the pain barrier to romp to an emphatic victory in the Lytham Trophy at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
The Ulsterman, 21, was suffering from tendinitis in his left elbow but dug deep to close with a one over par 71 for a three-shot win over Scotland’s Kris Nicol on four over par.
The first Irish winner of the prestigious event since Martin Sludds in 1982, Cutler beamed: “It feels brilliant. It has to be the biggest win of my career by a long way. I won the East of Ireland Championship last year but this is a huge title to have on your CV.
“I’d love to go on and try and win the Irish Amateur Open at Royal Dublin next week but my elbow was giving me problems all weekend and I don’t know if I will be able to play. I’ve been practising really hard and I had to take medication just to get through today.”
Cutler was a shot behind pace-setter Nichol heading down the stretch but came home in two under par with one bogey and three birdies on his card.
He said: “The key was the back nine. I played the best golf I have played all year to be honest. It’s the biggest win I have had by far and when I finish at the Golf Academy at Antrim this year I plan to go to the European Tour qualifying school.
“I’ve played a lot of golf with guys like Shane Lowry and English guys like Sam Hutsby so the idea is to get out on tour.”
After opening rounds of 74 and 66, Cutler carded a morning 73 to go into the final round tied for the lead.
He played the front nine in one over but birdies at the 10th, 11th and 14th saw him beat tough conditions and clinch a convincing win.
Lytham Trophy Final Results (Par 70) :-
284 Paul Cutler 74 66 73 71
287 Kris Nicol 72 68 74 73
290 A Szappanos 67 76 70 77, M Nixon 74 68 75 73
291 T Fleetwood 66 74 75 76
292 T Hatton 73 73 73 73, C Lloyd 72 70 76 74
293 M Lampert 76 71 72 74, Andrew Hogan 70 74 76 73, M Kieffer 68 74 78 72, H Dobson 70 72 79 73
294 KP Garwood 73 74 76 71, J Lopez Lazaro 70 75 74 75
295 E Bertheussen 74 71 76 74, J Robinson 70 74 75 70
296 J Shepherd 72 74 75 75, R Kellett 72 71 79 74
297 R Wattel 71 75 77 74, J Hurst 77 70 75 75, J Senior 75 67 77 78
298 M Young 67 80 79 72, S Richardson 74 73 77 74, R Fricker 70 75 78 75
299 G W.D Samuels 70 75 79 75, P McLean 73 70 79 77
300 C Paisley 68 76 77 79
301 T King 73 73 79 76, M Smith 73 73 73 82, D Wright 72 72 76 81
302 A Kristiansen 75 72 77 78, Luke Lennox 74 72 77 79, O Farr 73 71 81 77, Nicky Grant 70 74 80 78, B Hemstock 73 72 75 82
303 B Westgate 71 76 78 78
304 R Van West 72 74 79 79, C Hinton 72 72 77 80, M J Bedford 71 76 76 81
305 S Schwind 72 75 82 76, S Larkin 73 73 79 80, Paul Dunne 74 72 79 80, Dara Lernihan 74 71 81 79