The Lytham Trophy once again turned into a compelling battle. Mark Flanagan watched the action unfold as champion Frank Kennedy held off the challenge of James Ashfield and Spain’s Luis Masaveu on an eventful final day.
The first time I saw Frank Kennedy hit a golf ball it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It was the English Amateur at Moortown and Headingley in 2021 and the American-based teenager teed off the first.
FORMAT: 72-hole stroke play
Kennedy was 15 but looked younger. Relatively small in stature, he unleased a drive to the sound reminiscent of a gun shot. Keith Dowswell, the long-time secretary of the Yorkshire Union, told me about the time he first had a proper look at Matt Fitzpatrick. At that time the the US Open champion was also 15. He also remembered the Sheffield star’s ’sound off the club face’. “It was just somehow different to everyone else.”
What Fitzpatrick has already achieved, Kennedy almost certainly has in his sights and his considerable promise was confirmed yesterday as he held of a strong continental field to claim the biggest win of his career.
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It was the teenager’s first appearance on British soil in 2023 and what a statement in this Walker Cup year. With a plethora of influential figures watching, including Engand Golf’s Performance Director Nigel Edwards, Kennedy put on a masterclass in the morning to shoot a bogey-free 68 and then held on when the putter coolled somewhat in the final round.
The 17-year-old, who had Sir Nick Faldo’s caddy Fanny Sunesson on the bag – Kennedy’s father Simon is the six-time Major winner’s agent – began the day level with Masaveu, both players having recorded 70-68 while Ashfield, who came third in the European Nations Cup last week, was just a shot further back.
The Spaniard had a nightmare start, chipping into the bunker at the first before getting up and down for a bogey. It would give the English player a lead he would never lose.
At the next, which Ashfield came close to birdieing, Kennedy found trouble off the tee but a beautiful pitch from 60 yards to three feet set the tone for the morning.
The Welshman had another good look for birdie at the fourth and Masaveu missed to the right at the fifth from short range for par to drop back to level while Kennedy also missed a tiddler having hit his second in tight.
It would be one of 12 pars in a row for the 2022 Portuguese Amateur champion, who showed all his skill to get a four at sixth. Having missed his drive, he had 130 yards in for his third and he stuck it to ten feet before holing a crucial momentum putt. Ashfield bogeyed that hole to drop back to level.
Kennedy again holed out from distance to rescue his par at the par five seventh, having putt his third through the back of the green. The Spaniard went close with his birdie attempt but made it count at the next to get back within one of the leader. Up ahead Ashfield just missed to the right with his 16-foot birdie try on ten.
The Delamere Forest player found sand with his drive at 11 and that led to a bogey on the par five as the leading group played the tenth where both failed with 16-footers for birdie.
However Ashfield got one back at the 12 while Masaveu found the bunker at the par three and could not get up and down despite a superb recovery shot to four feet.
Kennedy then extended his lead at the next. He pulled his drive at the short par four but got lucky with his lie before sticking his approach to 12 feet and sinking the birdie attempt.
The Spaniard was now three behind and it got worse as he paid the price for a bad tee shot on 14 and missed with his eight-foot par attempt.
Another one went at the next as he missed again from even closer despite a good chip back while his playing partner put his pitch stone dead.
Up ahead Ashfield was reeling off the pars but he lost further ground as Kennedy drove into a bunker at the short par four 16th but recovered brilliantly to put his 60-yard escape shot to ten feet and he sank it to get to four under overall.
The leader again was thankful for his short game for a par on 17 while all three leading protagonists had very makeable birdie chances at the last, especially Masaveu, who missed from eight feet.
It meant the Spaniard was six behind going into the final round and Ashfield trailed by four. The big move of the morning had come from Lancashire local Andrew Haswell. His 68 left him on three over while Scottish Amateur champion Oliver Mukherjee also came through the field thanks to a 69 and was in with a shout on one over.
And the event certainly opened up at the start of the fourth round as Kennedy missed the green at the first, chipped to six feet but could not convert.
Up ahead Ashfield also made a rocky start, bogeying the second and the fourth while Masaveu bogeyed the third and then recovered brilliantly at the next, as did his playing partner.
However things really opened up at the fifth as Masaveu, who got the first hole in one of his life at the European Nations Cup at Sotogrande last week, bagged his second, the ball landing 20 feet short, bouncing once before rolling in at perfect pace.
With Kennedy failing to get up and down, suddely the Spaniard was just three back but the sixth showed its teeth yet again as Masaveu failed to rescue a par, missing from 18 feet.
At the par five seventh, Ashfield found the front of the green in two and came so close to holing his 50-foot eagle putt but the Welshman did sink a long one at the ninth – across the green – to get himself right into the mix, especially with the leader bogeying the seventh.
However, just when he needed it, Kennedy hit back hard with successive birdies. At the eighth he pitched to three feet and then hit a majestic approach into nine before holing out from eight feet to move five ahead of Masaveu and three clear of Ashfield.
But the Spaniard was not finished. At the tenth he sank a 20-footer and at the par five 11th, with Kennedy having to chip out sideways, his second somehow navigated its way through the greenside bunkers to finish pin high. A relatively simple up-and-down followed while Kennedy could only make par.
Masaveu then nailed his tee shot at 12. The ball never left the pin and finished just four feet short. He got his two while Ashfield had also birdied the par three and suddenly Kennedy was just two ahead of both pursuers.
There was then more pressure piled on the leader as he missed from seven for birdie on 13 but Masaveu faltered at the next, missing his par putt from six feet.
Things got really tense as Kennedy three putted from not very far on 15 and, up ahead at 16, Ashfield had a 16-foot birdie putt to draw level but it slipped by to the left.
Masaveu would not make the same mistake as he bagged a crucial three on 16 to get within one and at the next, Ashfield had a decent look at a three but, sadly, contrived to finish with a five after missing a tiny one back. A few minutes later Kennedy made a safe par and Masaveu also got his four.
It effectively ended the Welshman’s hopes although he did have a decent look for birdie at the last.
As the final group made their way down 18, both players were coming in from the left. Kennedy went first and put his pin-high, 16 feet away. Masaveu followed and clearly got a flier out of the light rough as his ball finished 18 inches away from the clubhouse. He chipped to ten feet but could not hole out for par. In contrast, the Florida-based player rolled the ball to inside 18 inches and tapped in for victory.