Dark horse Hoey is now the latest star of Northern Irish game

IT was no real surprise that a Northern Irishman emerged from the gloom to win the latest staging of the £3.2 million Dunhill Links Championship. That it was Michael Hoey, not Rory McIlroy or Graeme McDowell, who claimed victory at St Andrews was something of a shock at the end of a thrilling final day for this lavish pro-am event.

Three ahead at the start, the 32-year-old from Belfast was overtaken by the menacing McIlroy before the turn but covered the last 11 holes in five-under, picking up three birdies in the last four holes, for a closing 68 to secure the £515,000 top prize with a tournament record 22-under-par total of 266.

He finished two shots ahead of McIlroy, who made his move by holing his second shot at the third and raced out in 30, six-under, on his way to a closing 65, with Anstruther’s George Murray delighting the local crowds as he signed off with a spirited 67 to finish in a tie for third with last year’s US Open champion, McDowell (68).

Another Scot, Marc Warren, matched Murray’s closing effort to secure a tie for fifth alongside Louis Oosthuizen, who battled bravely but never really looked like repeating his Open Championship success over the Old Course last year, and young Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, who had shared the halfway lead with the eventual winner.

Hoey’s success, the third of his European Tour career, came a decade after he had underlined his potential when winning the Amateur Championship at Prestwick. “It’s a dream double as these are two great tournaments,” admitted Hoey, who came into this event lying 271st in the world but can now look forward to appearances in the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai later in the year as well as next’s season’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Akron, Ohio.

“I actually came here to watch the Dunhill Cup three times in the 90s. I remember watching the likes of Phil Mickelson, John Daly and Nick Faldo and saying to myself, ‘I’d love to play here one day’. I’ve not only done that but won the Dunhill Links - it doesn’t get any better than that.”

On a day that made the warm sunshine from earlier in the week feel like a distant memory, Hoey made an early gain with a birdie at the second, but it appeared the wheels were starting to look a bit shaky as he then dropped shots at both the third and seventh to drop back to 17-under for the tournament.

Playing in the group ahead, McIlroy had come storming out of the blocks. In addition to his eagle at the third, the US Open champion also bagged four birdies on the outward journey - at the second, sixth, seventh and ninth - to establish a position at the top of the leaderboard.

When he hit a majestic tee shot at the 174-yard 11th to six inches to move to 20-under for the tournament, it seemed as though the stage was set for the 22-year-old to kick on and win the tournament he used to kick-start his professional career four years ago.

Hoey, though, had different ideas. A great tee shot at the short eighth set up a birdie and he also made one at the ninth to get back within striking distance of his countryman, with McDowell, Murray and Warren all still in the title hunt as well coming down the stretch.

For McIlroy, the birdies dried up at just the wrong time. He parred in from the 12th, seeing his final bid to get to 21-under disappear into the Valley of Sin at the last. In fairness, he looked to have played a great shot to set up a birdie chance but, agonisingly for him, his ball spun back and eventually tricked down into the notorious hollow.

By then, Hoey, despite missing good birdie opportunities at the 12th and 14th, had taken over again at the head of affairs. He birdied both the 15th and 16th - his second shot at the latter nested 18 inches from the hole - and then sealed the biggest win of his career in fitting fashion with his sixth birdie of the day at the last. “It hasn’t sunk in yet - and I don’t think it will for a while,” said the winner. “Everything had gone my way earlier in the week and I went out trying to do things exactly the same. But I really strugged at the start. I had no rhythm at all and it was down to the [slow] pace of play that I was able to find that.

“When I missed those birdie chances at the 12th and 14th, I thought I was throwing my chance away but fortunately I was able to show a bit of fight at the finish. I knew I had to play some of the best shots of my life over the closing holes and I did with a 7-iron at the 16th (from 179 yards) and the 17th (from 183 yards).

“I also played the last hole well under the circumstances. I was shaking over my birdie putt and my caddie told me that I should just roll it to the hole. But I wanted to hole it - I wanted to finish it off in style.”

It was the first time in European Tour history that there has been a Northern Ireland 1-2-3 and McIlroy, who had been disullusioned with links golf after the Open Championship earlier in the year, admitted he had taken positives from the week despite missing out on the glory. “Considering I was three-over after 11 holes [in the first round at Kingsbarns], I’ve come back and played some really good golf, which is nice,” he said. “It would have been great to get another win as that’s what I’m pushing for, but it’s great to see [Hoey winning].”