Andy DevaneyOllie McEvoy won the 2026 McGregor Trophy at Clitheroe Golf Club after defeating Finland’s Valtteri Lindroos on the second play-off hole, completing an Irish victory built on one final-round recovery, one essential birdie and a 3-wood that had spent most of the week enjoying paid leave.
The pair had finished tied on 3-over-par after four demanding rounds, but McEvoy settled matters with a play-off birdie to become the first Irish winner of the boys’ championship since Mark Gazi triumphed at Sherwood Forest in 2022.
It was a victory of nerve rather than comfort. McEvoy began the final round five shots behind the lead, needed birdie at the 72nd hole merely to continue and then had to overcome Lindroos, whose closing 68 was the only under-par score of the afternoon.
There are easier ways to win a golf tournament. None is quite as memorable.
Max Blake charges into contention
The final day initially appeared to belong to England’s Max Blake.
The Corhampton golfer, a member of the England Golf South Region squad, produced the round of the championship during the morning’s third round. His 5-under-par 66 contained six birdies and only one bogey, carrying him through the field and into a four-shot advantage before the final round.
It was an emphatic move on a course that had shown little interest in distributing favours.
Clitheroe had been an exacting examination throughout the week, and Blake’s momentum disappeared during a difficult opening stretch in the afternoon. A double bogey at the 9th proved particularly costly, while overnight leaders Inaki de la Macorra Escobar of Spain and Thomas James of Frilford Heath also slipped backwards.
The leaderboard, so orderly a few hours earlier, began to wobble like a shopping trolley with an argumentative wheel.
Lindroos sets the clubhouse target
As the leading group struggled, Lindroos supplied the day’s most substantial charge.
The 15-year-old Finn compiled a 3-under-par 68, highlighted by an eagle at the par-5 13th. In difficult scoring conditions, his round carried additional weight: nobody else broke par during the afternoon.
Lindroos reached the clubhouse at 3-over-par and was left with golf’s least enjoyable assignment — waiting while somebody else attempted to remove his name from the top of the leaderboard.
The most immediate threat came from McEvoy.
The Irishman had made his move with a 2-under-par front nine, steadily reducing the deficit before a more turbulent passage after the turn. By the time he reached the 18th tee, the arithmetic was merciless. Only a birdie would force a play-off.
His drive headed right towards the trees, hardly the preferred route when a championship is balancing on one hole. McEvoy recovered with his second shot, pitched to 10 feet and converted the birdie putt.
The tournament had been rescued. Lindroos’ wait was over, although not in the manner he might have preferred.
Two play-off holes and one bold club choice
McEvoy and Lindroos returned to the 10th for the first extra hole.
Both found the fairway and followed with accurate approaches, but neither could convert a birdie opportunity. Two pars sent them towards the 18th, where the title would finally be decided.
Once again, both players split the fairway.
McEvoy then made the decision that will cling to this victory. He selected a 3-wood he had not used all week and sent his approach onto the green, leaving an eagle attempt from approximately 20 feet.
The first putt missed, but the birdie was converted.
Lindroos still had a chance after his approach finished left near the 9th green. His recovery chip gave him an opportunity to extend the contest, but the birdie putt passed the hole. His par left McEvoy as champion.
“I’m absolutely delighted. Just beyond belief, I can’t really believe it to be honest! This is definitely my best achievement in a stroke play tournament. 100%, it’s the best so far!
“I just about got it over the line in my proper round to get into the play-off, I held a birdie putt on the 18th and then in the play-off, I pulled a 3-wood out that I haven’t hit all week for my second shot. I managed to stick it into 20 feet and take the two putts for birdie, and I couldn’t quite believe it.
“I was really nervous at the start because I thought I’d thrown it away in the last few holes of my final round and then I settled down. That birdie putt on 18 definitely gave me momentum and confidence with my putter and then the confidence in my swing to carry it into the play-off.”
Redemption after Reid Trophy disappointment
The victory carried a little more emotional weight for McEvoy because of what had happened two years earlier.
He had suffered defeat in a Reid Trophy play-off, an experience capable of revisiting a golfer at inconvenient moments. At Clitheroe, however, he responded differently when the pressure arrived.
The birdie at the final hole was significant not only because it prolonged the championship. It changed the emotional direction of his round. A player who feared he had allowed the title to escape suddenly entered the play-off with a putter that had just delivered under maximum pressure.
McEvoy’s reward is a place on a McGregor Trophy roll of honour containing Ryder Cup player and England Golf Hall of Famer Justin Rose, former European Tour winner Edoardo Molinari, Marco Penge and Denmark’s Rasmus Højgaard.
On joining those names, McEvoy said: “It’s unbelievable! Quite surreal to be honest! It’s something you dream of.”
That is the appeal of championships such as this one. They are won by developing players, but their history gives every victory a sense of scale. The trophy does not guarantee where a young golfer will go next. It does, however, offer distinguished company for the journey.
Perez-Tasso climbs as the leaders retreat
Spain’s Javier Perez-Tasso Rodriguez also made substantial progress during the third round.
His 2-under-par 69 included four birdies and two bogeys, with three of those birdies arriving in succession at the 11th, 12th and 13th. He eventually completed the championship in third place on 6-over-par after a closing 75.
For Lindroos, defeat in the play-off was softened by victory in the Jean Case Memorial Trophy, awarded to the leading under-15 player. He finished six shots ahead of England’s Alfie Turner in that competition.
Italy’s first team claimed the Nations Cup, which was decided over the opening 36 holes. Luca Di Mauro and Alessandro Comparone combined for a total of 3-over-par, one stroke better than England’s AJ van Emmenis, Turner and George Cooper.
McGregor Trophy heads to Sandiway in 2027
The McGregor Trophy will move to Sandiway Golf Club in Cheshire in 2027, where another field of ambitious young players will attempt to add a name to one of junior golf’s most distinguished lists.
McEvoy’s name is there now, secured through a final-hole birdie, two play-off holes and the timely reappearance of an unemployed 3-wood.
Golf rarely rewards the sensible script. At Clitheroe, it preferred the dramatic one.
