“He used to coach me when I was younger. I have to give credit to him now for the up and downs. He really was a short game wizard.”
As for winning the title, he knows he can’t get ahead of himself against Abom, who made seven birdies to edge out East of Ireland champion David Howard by two holes in his quarter-finals.
“It would mean everything,” Keane said. “I got to the quarters of the West this year and lost to Dylan Holmes, who was unbelievable.
“But I’ve been playing decent there with the last four or five months this year, so as always, I will just try and one shot at a time and give it 100 per cent, and whatever happens after that, you can’t really do too much about it.”
Abom had to dig deep to beat the talented Roganstown teenager, Mark Cadden, one-up in the morning.
Howard denied him a fraternal quarter-final clash with his younger brother Thomas, the reigning Irish Close champion, with a win on the 20th in the last 16, and he’s keen now to earn some family bragging rights by winning a “major” himself.
“I’d say that was my best performance,” Abom said of his birdie blitz against Howard. “I feel like I’m playing freely and I’m not worried about the consequences as much.”
Keane or Abom will face a quality player in the final as 2018 champion Rafferty meets another superb ball-striker in Whelan in the other semi-final.
“He’s one of the best in Ireland, if not the best,” said Whelan, a former Mullingar Scratch Cup winner, after notching solid 2&1 wins over Connemara’s Luke O’Neill and Ballybofey and Stranorlar’s Ryan Griffin.
“He does everything well, and he’s been one of the top one or two players in the country now for five or six years.”
Whelan feels he’s a far better and more mature player now than he was in 2019, when he lost 5&3 to Keith Egan in the semi-finals, and he knows what it will take to win.
“Everyone here can play, so I’m just going to have to shoot a good few under tomorrow and see where that leaves me,” he said.
Former Walker Cup player Rafferty has won the South, East and West of Ireland titles, but while he never tires of winning, fatherhood is now a priority.
“Every championship is the same, it’s the best feeling ever,” Rafferty said after a brace of 5&3 wins over Monkstown’s Sean Desmond and Athenry’s David Kitt. “That’s why we play golf.
“This will be a wee bit more special, being the first one that the child will be here.
“No pressure, it’s another day of golf and just see what happens… Just let the clubs hit the ball and find it and hit it again.”
Pierse Motor Group South of Ireland Amateur Open Championship, Lahinch
Detailed scores
Third round
Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk) bt Seán Desmond (Monkstown) 5/3;
David Kitt (Athenry) bt Jordan Hood (Galgorm Castle) 19th;
Ryan Griffin (Ballybofey & Stranorlar) bt Dylan Holmes (Greystones) 21st;
Jake Whelan (Grange) bt Luke O’Neill (Connemara) 2/1;
Jonathan Keane (Lahinch) bt Joe Lyons (Galway) 5/4;
Paul O’Hanlon (Carton House) bt Conor Stapleton (Westport) 2/1;
David Howard (Fota Island) bt Thomas Abom (Edmondstown) 20th
Liam Abom (Edmondstown) bt Mark Cadden (Roganstown) 1 up
Quarter-finals:
Rafferty bt Kitt 5/3;
Whelan bt Griffin 2/1;
Keane bt O’Hanlon 2/1;
L Abom bt Howard 2 up.
Sunday – Semi-finals:
8:30 Rafferty v Whelan;
8:45 Keane v L Abom.
