The Irish Golf Club Gazette: January 2016

1/31/2016

Torrey Pines Sunday for Dunne and Lowry

Paul Dunne sank a nerve-jangling, downhill birdie putt on the final green to sit just four shots off the lead going into the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open.

The Greystones man posted his third consecutive under-par round in his first professional start on the PGA Tour with a one-under-par 71 on the South Course at Torrey Pines Golf Club.

Dunne endured a slow start with bogeys on the first and fourth hole but bounced back with birdies on the sixth and eighth holes to go out in level par.

Another bogey followed on the 11th before birdies on 13 and the aforementioned 18th sees Dunne sitting in a tie for 17th going into the final round.

Sunday’s finale will see the golfers out on the course in three-balls with an early start due to a local weather warning and perhaps the bad weather might suit the Irishman who would be no stranger to inclement conditions.

Shane Lowry shot a one-over-par 73 to sit on one under for the tournament and is currently in a tie for 40th place.

On Thursday he had finished birdie-birdie on the North Course to dip under par, carding a one-under 71 in his season opener. He continued in similar form starting off the back nine on Friday - with birdies on the 14th and 16th cancelled out by a bogey on the 13th. Birdies on the first and ninth then were similarly cancelled out by bogeys on the fourth and seventh for a second consecutive 71.

Scott Brown and KJ Choi lead the field on nine under par.

1/29/2016

Turner Trails Song and Spieth in Singapore

Niall Turner finished his second round at the SMBC Singapore Open signing for a level par round on Friday to hold a share of 30th place - eight strokes off the lead. But only three shots behind Jordan Spieth who also signed for a level par second after opening with a 67 the previous day.

Korea’s Younghan Song surged up the leaderboard after carding an eight-under-par 63 in the second round of the weather-hit event on Friday.

Play was suspended because of inclement weather at 3.06pm (local time) and could not resume due to thunderstorms and lightning activities around the Serapong Course at Sentosa Golf Club.

A total of 78 players, including world number one Jordan Spieth and Byeonghun An who completed seven holes, will return to finish their rounds at 7.30am on Saturday morning with round three scheduled to start immediately upon the completion of the second round.

An was at seven-under while Spieth traded one birdie and one bogey to stay at four-under after six holes, five shots back of Song at the US$1 million event which is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour Organisation (JGTO).

“I didn’t get off to a great start but made a good birdie on number two. That’s golf, that’s weather, you can’t control that. I could tell it was bad on other parts of the course,” said Spieth.

Song was on fire as he marked his card with seven birdies, one eagle and a bogey to establish a two-shot advantage over Japan’s Shintaro Kobayashi with his two-day total of nine-under-par 133.

The Korean stormed off the blocks quickly in the morning, going to five-under after four holes with two birdies and an eagle-three on four.

He charged towards the turn with another two birdies on seven and eight and continued to set the scorching pace with another pair of birdies on 10 and 11 before a bogey-five on 12 put the brakes momentarily on his charge.

After three straight pars from 13, Song sunk another birdie on 16 before reaching home comfortably in 63.

“It was a superb round and I really have to thank my excellent putting for putting me in this position.

“The goal is to win the tournament this week and for now, I just want to take a good rest before I come back again and hopefully play well like what I did today,” said Song.

Kobayashi meanwhile showed no signs of fatigue despite having to return early to complete his first round which was also suspended due to lightning yesterday.

The Japanese followed up his opening effort of a 66 with a 69 to put himself in a commanding position for the weekend rounds.

The 29 year-old had slightly more than an hour of rest before he was back at the tee again.

The Japanese went out in 35 after three birdies and two bogeys and would make another birdie on 17 to sign for a 69.

“I didn’t feel tired at all today. Maybe because it was cool in the morning and it only started to get a little hot and humid as the day went on.

“I feel comfortable on this course and if I continue to play like what I’ve done, anything can happen,” said Kobayashi.

Dunne Fits Right in at Farmers

PGA Tour newcomer Paul Dunne looked at ease in his firts outing carding a three-under-par 69 to finish round one three shots off the lead at the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego.

Dunne, at the tournament thanks to a sponsor's invite, shot a sole bogey to sit in a 19-way tie for 15th which also included Patrick Reed and Phil Mickelson.

Offaly's Shane Lowry also made a solid start at Torrey Pines, going round in a one-under 71

Americans Scott Brown and Andrew Loupe shared the lead as home players occupied the first seven places after the first round.

The duo were tied on six under par after both opened with rounds of 66 with Brown having eight birdies and two bogeys in his round.

Brown played the more difficult South Course whereas Loupe's opening round was on the North Course.

Brown said: "I hit it really well coming in, the last 11 holes. I made a couple of length putts and capitalised on the short ones.

"It's a hard golf course, if you're out of position you are immediately playing for par. Fortunately I drove it good and hit a lot of good iron shots today," Brown added in an interview on the PGA Tour website.

Loupe had two eagles, four birdies and two bogeys as he and Brown led fellow countrymen Billy Horschel, Patton Kizzire, Tom Hoge, Rob Hoppenheim and Harold Varner III by a single stroke.

A seven-way tie on five under par included Americans Gary Woodland, Brendan Steele, Scott Stallings, Matt Every and Chesson Hadley.

Also sharing eighth place were South Korea's KJ Choi and Japan's Hideki Matsuyama.

Defending champion Jason Day had gone into the tournament hoping to be competitive despite suffering from a virus but he ended the opening round tied forth 76th on even par in a group which also included England's Brian Davis.

English pair Greg Owen and Paul Casey both shot one over par rounds of 73 to be in a tie for 90th place.

1/27/2016

Hoey Opens with 68 in Qatar Masters

Michael Hoey is three shots off the lead at the Commercial Commercial Bank Qatar Masters after opening with a bogey-free four-under-par 68 and a share of 14th place in Wednesday's opening round.

The only Irish interest in Doha is Paul McGinley who carded a first round 72 to finish level par.

Pablo Larrazabal set the pace alongside former British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen, who is looking to make his trademark flying start to the year.

Larrazabal carded seven birdies in a flawless, but South African Oosthuizen matched him stride for stride to sit joint top of the leaderboard.

Sweden's Bjorn Akesson threatened to overhaul the leaders when he raced to the turn in 30 and reached seven under after 11 holes, but a late bogey meant he had to settle for a share of third on six under with England's Andrew Johnston and Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts.

Two-time Qatar Masters winner Paul Lawrie was part of an eight-strong group on five under, with defending champion Branden Grace and 2014 winner Sergio Garcia on two under.

Oosthuizen has a remarkable record in his first event of the calendar year, winning the Africa Open in 2011 and 2012 and following that with consecutive victories in the Volvo Golf Champions in 2013 and 2014.

Injury meant the South African did not start his 2015 campaign until March, but his first event produced a sixth-placed finish in the WGC-Cadillac Championship and he went on to lose out in a play-off for the Open and finish joint second in the US Open.

The 33-year-old has not played competitively since finishing joint 11th in the Nedbank Golf Challenge on December 6, but felt refreshed after such a lengthy break and was showing no signs of rust on Wednesday.

Starting on the back nine, Oosthuizen birdied his first two holes and also picked up shots on the 16th and 18th to reach the turn in 32, while birdies on the first and sixth took him to six under par.

Oosthuizen was delighted to keep his card blemish-free, telling Sky Sports: "There were two occasions where it looked like I was going to make bogey but recovered well and the rest was very solid, good ball-striking and I made one or two putts.

"I like playing in windy conditions. The whole day is going to stay like this, which is fair, but they are expecting some horrible winds later in the week and then it gets really difficult."

Larrazabal won on the 'Desert Swing' in Abu Dhabi two years ago and claimed his fourth European Tour title in the BMW International Open last June, but suffered a back injury during the Open which kept him out for several weeks.

"Last year I was playing very good in the middle of the season and had a big injury at the Open Championship," Larrazabal said. "After that it was very difficult to keep the rhythm and come back."

Lawrie's first win in Qatar came in 1999, the same year as his Open triumph at Carnoustie, with the second in 2012 helping him secure a Ryder Cup return at Medinah after an absence of 13 years.

"I'm very happy," the 47-year-old said. "It was obviously quite tough this afternoon, the wind was blowing. I got off to a terrible start and three-putted the first from sort of about 15 feet. Been out here a long time, so you put these things behind you pretty quickly."

Asked about his reputation as a good player in bad weather, Lawrie added: "I'm happy knocking it down. I'm happy hitting five-iron 160 yards into kind of a strong breeze.

"I've always been able to do it, stick the ball a bit further back in the stance and take a bit of speed off it. It's not rocket science, so I kind of quite enjoy doing that."

Garcia carded four birdies in six holes from the seventh but bogeyed the 13th, three-putted the 17th and lipped out for birdie on the last.

"I feel like I should have done better," the world number 12 said. "Obviously it's my first round of the year, but I felt like I probably turned a 68 or 67 into a 70.

"It's unfortunate, but with the high winds that we have on the forecast, obviously the greens are a little bit slower to make sure the ball doesn't move, and these greens are a little bit grainy already.

"It's not easy to hit some of the spots and into the grain they are quite tough. They don't roll as true as you would like to but it is what it is."

PGA Farmers is Dunne Deal

Paul Dunne is relishing the chance to take a big step towards his "overall goal" when he makes his PGA Tour debut at the Farmers Insurance Open on Thursday.

The Greystones hit the headlines last summer when he became the first amateur since 1927 to share the lead of the Open Championship after 54 holes, before eventually finishing 30th at St Andrews.

The 23-year-old went on to gain his European Tour card via the qualifying school in November but is taking advantage of a gap in his schedule, and a sponsor's invite, to play in the United States, where he attended the same college as former US Open champion Graeme McDowell - the University of Alabama in Birmingham.

Dunne said playing on the PGA Tour is his ultimate ambition.

"I'm very excited to make my PGA Tour debut this week and spend a few weeks in California," said Dunne, who turned pro after helping Great Britain and Ireland to Walker Cup glory.

"I set my goals at the start of the year to just try to improve every day."

"When I was playing in college I was always striving to turn pro and play golf on a professional tour and I was excited to get my European Tour card back in November. Now I have a few weeks off the European Tour I'm really excited to see what the PGA Tour has to offer.

"Category 16 status on the European Tour is for Q-School graduates, so it doesn't get you in every event.

When I was looking at the schedule I knew I had the first couple of events in South Africa [he finished ninth in the Joburg Open] and then my category wouldn't get me into the events in the desert swing.

"So I knew I had a good break in tournaments and then we just sought places to play and looked to America. We were lucky enough to get invites over here.

"Obviously the overall goal for me would be to end up on the PGA Tour so any exposure I can get to that early is great.

"In terms of goals for the week, I kind of set my goals at the start of the year to just try to improve every day - get better each week and let results take care of themselves. So I'm just going to keep working on my game and hopefully I put some good scores together."

World number two Jason Day is a doubt for the defence of his title at Torrey Pines after being laid low by a virus.

Day pulled out of the pre-tournament pro-am but hopes to be fit enough on Thursday to play the opening round of the £4.5m event, one of the five tournaments he won in 2015.

The last time he missed a pro-am, he went on to shoot 61 in the opening round of the Barclays and win for the third time in four starts.

If Day does miss out, the event can still boast an impressive field, with new world number four Rickie Fowler making the 17-hour journey from Abu Dhabi after winning his second European Tour title on Sunday.

Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose are also competing.

1/22/2016

Bad Light Stops McIlroy Duel

Getty Images

Rory McIlroy started his second round with eight straight pars before a bogey on the ninth, where his pushed drive finished in rocks on the edge of a lake and dropped him back to five under par at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

Playing partner Jordan Spieth was faring worse with bogeys on the fourth and fifth, and the world number one was lucky not to drop more shots on the ninth, where his drive was heading towards the water before hitting a spectator.

Andy Sullivan grabbed a one-shot lead on Friday, but he will have to wait and see if he still holds it when the second round concludes on Saturday morning.

There was a two hour and 45 minute delay in the morning due to fog, meaning some of the 60 players who have yet to complete their rounds will have as many as ten holes to play upon the resumption at 0740.

Second-placed Bryson DeChambeau will have nine to complete after picking up one shot on the back nine to get to nine under before the sun set over Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

The 22 year old American is bidding to become just the fourth amateur in history to win on The European Tour and he has shown no signs of nerves in a field which includes four of the top ten players in Official World Golf Ranking.

Reigning Race to Dubai champion Rory McIlroy was five off the lead with five to play, level with playing partner Rickie Fowler and two shots clear of World Number One Jordan Spieth, who completed the marquee group.

But Sullivan is the man to catch after a second consecutive 67 for the Englishman who has good memories of his last visit to the Gulf states, when he pushed McIlroy all the way at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.

The 28 year old finished eighth in last season's Race to Dubai after claiming three wins and arrived here on the back of claiming three points out of three for Europe at last week's EURASIA CUP presented by DRB-HICOM.

He continued the theme of threes on Friday as he opened with three birdies from the tenth and, after dropping a shot on the 15th, he played a fantastic second shot from a fairway bunker on the first to set up another gain.

A bogey on the fifth dropped him out of a share of the lead but he put his tee shot on the seventh inside ten feet and rolled it in before picking up another birdie on the next to move ahead.

A closing birdie on the ninth from 25 feet then made him the first man this week into double figures.

"I think today was even more impressive than yesterday," he said. "I think yesterday, I had it under a lot of control and it felt quite easy.

"Today, started off great, lost my way through the middle part of the round and dug deep and finished really strong with three birdies.

"I think on the whole, much much happier with today and obviously it puts me in good stead finishing that way for the rest of the tournament."

He added: "I feel totally different coming in. This time last year, I had already won but still felt this tournament of this magnitude with the players, I knew that I would have to go some to do it.

"It's nice to do that, and obviously to go out there and actually put your A Game to the test is great."

Overnight leader DeChambeu quickly wiped out the advantage Sullivan had established in the morning as he holed from eight feet on the tenth and 15 feet on the 12th but a bogey on the par five 18th saw him drop to second.

Joost Luiten fired a 68 to sit at seven under in his first start since he finished in a tie for fifth at the season-opening Alfred Dunhill Championship.

The Dutchman, who started on the tenth, turned in 33 after making three birdies in four holes from the 15th. Six pars followed but a lengthy putt on the seventh handed him another red number to sit in the clubhouse three off the lead with Rafa Cabrera-Bello.

The Spaniard opened with a bogey on the tenth but had back-to-back birdies on the 13th and 14th and came back in 32 to post a 67.

Thomas Bjørn was also seven under through 11 holes as he got his 2016 campaign under way. Last year was only the second in his career that he failed to record a top ten but birdies on the first, fifth, seventh and tenth have put him in contention to quickly correct that.

England's Richard Bland completed the group three off the lead having also played 11 holes and he had birdies on the 14th, 15th and 18th.

Swede Peter Hanson fired a second consecutive 69 thanks to birdies at the ninth, 16th and 18th to sit a further shot back alongside David Howell who was two under for his round with two to play.

Richie Ramsay fired nine birdies in a 66 to get to five under alongside Ian Poulter who signed for a 69 despite playing with an injured thumb.

Matthew Fitzpatrick was also in that group after he showed considerable tenacity in a battling 71, alongside Matthew Baldwin, David Horsey, Trevor Fisher Jnr and Fabrizio Zanotti.

Then came McIlroy and Fowler, who endured contrasting fortunes in the 13 holes they completed.

Fowler had been overshadowed by his playing partners in round one but he picked up birdies on the second, eighth and 12th as McIlroy and Spieth failed to fire.

The Northern Irishman had 12 pars and a single bogey on the ninth while Spieth struggled off the tee and bogeyed the fourth and fifth before picking up a shot on the tenth.

Three-time winner Martin Kaymer was in the group at five under, two under for the day through 12 holes, with BMW PGA Championship winner Byeong-hun An also two under on the day having played 11.

The third round, going off the first and the tenth holes in three-balls, will not begin before 1045.

1/20/2016

McIlroy Has Number One in Sights

Getty Images

Rory McIlroy will go head-to-head with Jordan Speith at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship this week with the American's position as World Number One firmly in his sights.

McIlroy, Spieth and Jason Day have been battling it out for the top spot over the last 12 months with Spieth currently in pole position, followed by Day with McIlroy in third.

And on the eve of the first event of his Race to Dubai defence at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, McIlroy, who spent 95 cumulative weeks at the top of the Official World Golf Ranking, is determined to regain that status this season.

"I still like to look at it and see where I'm at," he said. "Especially the strength of field for this week and how many points you would get for a win, so it's always there.

"I know I need to play well this week to leapfrog Jason. I think if I can finish second, I can get up above him.

"But I've made no secret about wanting to get back to that position, and I'd like to do it as quickly as possible. So it's definitely a motivation."

For his part Spieth, who won the Masters Tournament and the US Open Championship last season, is hoping to use the achievements of four-time Major winner McIlroy, and others, to spur him on to even greater things.

"You can be satisfied and think about all the stuff you've done or you can look at what these guys who you've looked up to your whole life have accomplished more than you have," he said.

"So look at Tiger (Woods), Phil (Mickelson), Rory, these guys that have done more in the game of golf than I have, and I want to strive to get to what they have done. I want my name to go down in history for as many things as it can. That's where my mind is, I'm less satisfied with what's happened and more hungry to try and keep it going.

"I understand that it doesn't happen overnight. It's a marathon; it's not a sprint. I'm willing to put in that time and go through the process. And you're going to have good weeks, you're going to have off weeks, I understand that. But as long as you can get just a little bit better each year, then the results will come."

To make any inroads into Spieth's lead, McIlroy will have to finish above the 22 year old this week, with Spieth coming into his first European Tour event outside Major Championships and World Golf Championships off the back of a win at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions where he finished 30 under par.

With a field including eight Major Champions, 89 European Tour winners, six European Tour Number Ones and five World Number Ones, however, the Northern Irishman knows that Spieth is not the only man to beat this week.

"I don't play the game on markers at all," he said. "I want to play my best, and I don't have to just beat Jordan Spieth this week. I have to beat another 142 guys.

"So it would be foolish of me to think that that's all that my competition was, I think it would be an injustice to every other player that's in the field because there's so much talent on Tour and there's so much depth that if you forget about everyone else that could win the tournament, it's not really smart to do that.

"I've had four runners-up and I've been close a couple of times. Hopefully I can change that this week."

This will be the seventh consecutive year that McIlroy has started his campaign in Abu Dhabi with those four second-place finishes all coming in the last five years.

He will tee it up alongside Spieth and Rickie Fowler on Thursday morning and is hopeful that he can once again use the event as a springboard to a successful season.

"It was a nice break over Christmas and new year," he said. "I felt like I needed it mentally and physically a little bit. So it was nice to take that extended break and come back feeling really refreshed and excited to go.

"I've said this before: I don't think there's any better place to start the year than here in Abu Dhabi with the weather, the golf course, the field that HSBC is able to put together.

"It's a real competitive start to the year, and I feel like it's really helped me start the year quickly and well over the past few years, and hopefully that's the same case this year.

"Teeing off on Thursday morning, it's your first competitive shot in a couple of months. To tee up alongside those guys, the excitement, there's a buzz about it.

"Every year coming back here to Abu Dhabi, it was sort of the same last year with Rickie and the previous couple of years it was with Tiger. You're teeing off the first round of your season and it feels like you're right into the thick of things at the start. So I think that's really beneficial for a lot of guys to start the year like that."

1/31/2016

Related articles

1/29/2016

Related articles

Related articles

1/27/2016

Related articles

Related articles

1/22/2016

Related articles

1/20/2016

Related articles