The Irish Golf Club Gazette: @cbqatarmasters. @mikeHoey

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4/26/2016

McGrane Returns to Volvo China Open

McGrane - Getty Images

Damien McGrane returns to the Volvo China Open this week and plays in an event where he emerged as the outright winner in 2008 when it was hosted in Beijing. As a former winner McGrane enjoys an exemption and so returns to a European Tour event following his loss of playing rights at W School in PGA de Catalunya last year.

Michael Hoey joins him this week as the only other Irish player and will be keen to recover from the missed cut last week at the Shenzen International. Next week Hoey is due to play the Trophee Hassan in Morocco an event he won in 2012.

A strong international field, including a number of those in action at last week’s Masters such as Bernd Wiesberger, Victor Dubuisson and Kiradech Aphibarnrat, will battle it out overlooking one of the most impressive wonders of the world - the Great Wall of China - when the 22nd staging of the Volvo China Open tees off at Topwin Golf and Country Club next week.

As the entry list closed for the 2016 edition of China’s national open championship, it revealed that a truly international field containing golfers from no fewer than 28 countries will line up in Beijing, as the tournament returns to the capital for the first time since 2009.

It is also Ryder Cup and Olympics year, and players from all over the world will be keen to make a mark and put themselves in contention for an appearance at two of sport's biggest occasions. The line-up includes 13 of the Top 100 golfers in the world, and no fewer than ten former holders of the Volvo China Open.

Wiesberger, Austria’s most successful golfer of all time with three wins on the European Tour, said: “I am really looking forward to playing the Volvo China Open – I have not played the event in seven years so it will be great to see how it has grown as a tournament since 2009.

"I have had a pretty good record in China in recent years and it is a place I always enjoy visiting. Beijing is such a vibrant city, it’s always an exciting place to be and I have heard Topwin Golf and Country Club is very close to the Great Wall of China so it will be a really cool experience to see that.

"My form this year has been steady but I am really keen to push for more titles heading into the summer and hopefully I can do that in Beijing by claiming my first victory on Chinese soil."

Frenchman Dubuisson has a strong track record of top five finishes in Volvo events such as the Volvo Golf Champions, the Volvo World Match Play Championship and the Volvo China Open, and he will have his eyes on the trophy in Beijing. He said: “It has been three years since I competed in the Volvo China Open, so I am looking forward to returning this year - especially at a new venue.

"I have always enjoyed playing this tournament and am determined to get my first win in China at Topwin Golf and Country Club. Chinese events are always great fun and always very well organised, so I’m sure it will be a great week.”

Defending Champion Ashun is keen on keeping the crown and he said: “I’m looking forward to playing in Beijing and I am totally committed to defending my title. There hasn’t been a top international professional golf tournament in Beijing for a long time. I truly believe that with the championship coming back to Beijing, it will have another profound impact on the development of golf in China.”

With the venue so close to the Chinese capital, large crowds are expected to enjoy all that is on offer; world-class golf, the unique environment by the Great Wall, and the chance to experience the Spectator Village where golf and all manner of Volvo activities are on offer.

The 22nd staging of the Volvo China Open will take place from April 28 to May 1. Volvo was the first western brand to engage with golf in China in 1995, and this will be Volvo’s 85th tournament on the European Tour. The tournament is organised by the China Golf Association with Volvo as co-organiser and promoter, and is co-sanctioned by the European Tour and OneAsia.

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."