Lowry Looking for Irish Repeat

Getty Images

Shane Lowry has now set his sights on becoming only the third Irishman to win his national Open on more than one occasion.

Lowry turned his season around with a runner-up finish behind fellow Irishman Rory McIlroy in last month’s BMW PGA Championship, a performance which filled the Clara native with confidence ahead of his bid to emulate the feats of his compatriots Christy O’Connor Snr and Harry Bradshaw. 

O’Connor Snr won the Irish Open four times and Bradshaw twice, but no Irishman has achieved the feat since the tournament joined The European Tour International Schedule in 1975. 

Five years on from his amateur dramatics at Baltray, Lowry will go in search of a second victory in the €2million event. 

He said: “I generally don’t like to talk about wining, but I do feel I’m coming here this week to really contend. Someone might shoot a better score than me to pip me and at the end of the day there’s not a lot you can do about that, but I come here with that winning mentality. I really feel like my game is where I want it to be at the minute, and I’m really excited about the next four days.”

Lowry’s excitement is not just caused by his improved performances of late, but also due to the crowds which are expected to pour through the gates at Fota Island Resort, in Ireland’s second city of Cork. 

When the tournament was staged at Portrush in 2012, it became the first sold-out event in European Tour history; and with extended periods of sunshine forecast for the majority of week, Lowry is confident that the Irish golfing public will again show their support. 

He said: “I believe the last time it was played here in 2002, there were around 35,000 people here on the Saturday and I’d say we are expecting pretty similar crowds again, which should make for a great week. The golf course is lovely, and with the weather forecast we have, it’s going to be a fantastic. 

“I’m playing on a golf course that I know quite well, in front of my friends and family. I mean, where else do you want to be in the world? There’s no place I'd rather be this week than playing here.”

Related articles

• GUI Name Fota Island Four
• Kaymer's U.S. Open Victory Has Us Buzzing, Says McGinley
• Royal Portrush confirmed as Open Championship host
• Win a VIP trip to see L.S. Lowry in Berwick
• Lowry Launches Fota Countdown
• Shane Lowry Open Ready

Harrington Open to More Claret

Getty Images

Padraig Harrington will play alongside Rory McIlroy and Stephen Gallacher in the opening two rounds.

The 43 year old Dubliner memorably added his national Open title in the professional ranks in 2007 and went on to win three Major Championships in the following 18 months, heralding a glorious period in Irish golfing history. He now returns to Fota Island looking to provide yet another chapter in a remarkable career, at a venue where he admits he has many happy memories. 

“It's obviously been a happy hunting ground for me over the years,” said Harrington. “I do like the venue. I like the atmosphere the venue gives off. It's an ideal place for professional golf when you have got a hotel on site, and you have got a beautiful golf course, and you've got a fantastic setting and good practice facilities. There's not much more the players could ask for than you've got here.”

Harrington concedes that having an Irish Open title already under his belt takes some of the pressure off his shoulder this week, and enables him to enjoy the unique focus that naturally falls on him and the other Irish players. 

“I'm not under as much pressure as the other lads who haven't got one,” he said. ”It is important to win your National Open at some stage in your career. It's something you want to tick off for your CV. Obviously Shane (Lowry) has one, so there's two of us with it.

“Early in my career, it was pressure, and a lot of expectation. Then you realise that it's not necessarily expectation. It's more just people who want you to win, and they would like to you win, and they are not trying to put more pressure on you. 

“When you look it like that, it kind of deflects it a little bit and you can relax a little bit more. There's no doubt at an Irish Open for an Irish player, there's more stress around the week. There's more things to be done. There's more people to say hello to, and you've got to stop and say hello to everybody. It just mounts up in the course of a week. 

“So it's one of those events that you just know you're not going to be able to go through your normal routine, and you know things are going to be just slightly out of kilter once you accept that, it's easier to get on with things.”

Having won two Claret Jugs so far in his career, Harrington also welcomed The R&A’s announcement on Monday that Royal Portrush has been added to the rota of Open Championship venues. 

“I'm sure when it does come, it will be one of the greatest Opens ever,” he said. “The people that will turn out and the atmosphere will be second to none. Only St. Andrews maybe could surpass it, because it's the Home of Golf, but I think the raw atmosphere around an event like The Open Championship at Portrush will be unbelievable. Just phenomenal. It would be rare if the players will experience what they will experience when The Open is at Portrush.”

Related articles

• The Open set to be confirmed for NI
• The Open 'real boost for NI tourism'
• Open set for Royal Portrush return
• London - Lazarides
• Royal Portrush to host The Open: Championship will return to Northern Ireland for first time in almost 70 years

Captain McGinley Sees Irish Action

Getty Images

Paul McGinley is enjoying the buzz of playing on home soil this week as he turns his attention back to being inside the ropes at the Irish Open.

McGinley was a satisfied observer at last week’s US Open Championship as Martin Kaymer sealed an impressive second Major Championship, giving European golf another boost ahead of September’s contest at Gleneagles.

With his team steadily taking shape, McGinley will now shift the focus back to his own playing career for four consecutive European Tour tournaments, starting with his national Open at Fota Island Resort, where he won the first of his four Irish PGA Championships in 1997.

With all four of Ireland’s Major Champions – Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy – in the field, McGinley is looking forward to the home crowds coming out to support the Irish Open, which returns to the Cork venue for the first time in 12 years.

“On the back of Martin’s win, it creates a buzz for everybody at this tournament, everybody in the European Tour in the background, and obviously me, Ryder Cup Captain,” he said. “I think some venues are blessed with good weather and Fota Island seems to be blessed. The last time we were here the weather was sensational, as well, and looks like we are going to have a tremendous week too, the way the forecast is.

“It is exciting. There are a lot of exciting players in the field. Obviously Rory is going to get a lot of attention and Graeme, too, with the World Rankings and the way they have been playing and the exciting talent that they are. It's all good and there is a good buzz around the place.”

He added: “I’ve played quite decently this year to be honest, but I haven’t played that much. I think I’ve only played four or five tournaments. So I’m looking forward to playing the next four and getting a run. What I’ve missed is that run of tournaments. I seem to be playing one tournament and then taking a month off before the next one, but now I’ve got four in a row and I’m looking forward to it.”

McGinley also paid tribute to Kaymer’s majestic performance last week, after the German led from start to finish to join McDowell, McIlroy and McDowell as recent European winners of the US Open Championship.

“I was impressed like everybody,” he said. “To lead after the first round, and then to extend his lead to a bigger margin by the time the fourth round came was very impressive, because in my view the US Open is the toughest tournament to win.

“I think it’s a test not just of golf, but of mental skills. There’s a potential calamity on every hole, and it’s easy to make a double or a triple so it’s a real test of mental resilience. 

“I think it’s great for the European team, and great for The European Tour. It certainly creates a buzz around the Tour. I think the fact that Martin has won and he’s a popular guy will give that little bit of extra added incentive to the other guys, too, to maybe match him and win The Open or the US PGA, as well.”

Related articles

• Kaymer's U.S. Open Victory Has Us Buzzing, Says McGinley
• GUI Name Fota Island Four
• Strong Irish Open Field for Fota
• US Open 2014: Martin Kaymer keeps European flag flying high with pillar-to-post success
• Tee Off time for the Irish Open at Fota Island.
• Two Mac's Get Irish Open Date