The Irish Golf Club Gazette: PGA European Tour

Showing posts with label PGA European Tour. Show all posts

5/16/2016

Profile - Colm Moriarty

With an amateur handicap of (+5), Colm Moriarty enjoyed an outstanding career as a full-time amateur golfer, coupled with a reputation for being one of the most exciting and aggressive players on the world amateur circuit in recent years. He was part of the Irish national team set up since he was sixteen years old and has enjoyed success not only in the most prestigious Irish amateur tournaments, but also in major amateur golf events all over the world.

In 2003, Colm astounded the world amateur game by winning both the Australian (NSW) amateur stroke play and match play titles in New South Wales, Australia. This marked the first time that any player managed to win both titles in one season for almost 30 years. In September 2003, he achieved the highest accolade in world amateur golf when selected to play in the victorious Walker Cup team at Ganton Golf Club. This victory marked the first time that the Great Britain & Ireland team managed to win three Walker Cup titles in a row.

Leaving his highly distinguished amateur golf career on a high note, Colm turned professional at the end of 2003 began competing on the European Challenge Tour.

In 2005 showed his potential in the Nissan Irish Open on the European Tour, when he received a sponsors invite to play in the event and went on to finish in 13th place, with Padraig Harrington being the only Irish player to finish ahead of him. Colm had a number of impressive finishes on the Challenge Tour in the 2005 season, the highlight of which was second position in the Kazakhstan Open.

Colm played a combination of Challenge Tour and Europro Tour for the 2007 season. He began the year on a bright note, winning his first professional event, the Europro Tours Wensum Valley tournament at the beginning of May. Then came his first Challenge Tour victory, the First Plus Wales Challenge in July.

Unfortunately those wins were not enough to break back onto the main European Tour, Moriarty finishing 34th in the final 2007 Challenge Tour Rankings. In 2008, Colm finished 55th in the rankings during a disappointing season that had six top 20's, but only two top 10's.

After a slow start to the 2009 Challenge Tour season, Colm produced many consistent performances, missing only 2 cuts from his final 14 events. Only one of these, however, would result in a top-10, and Moriarty finished 52nd on the Order of Merit. Despite a good effort at Tour School, Colm unfortunately missed the four-round cut mark and has played The Challenge Tour again in 2010.

This season Moriarty qualified for the 150th Open Championship where he finished in 37th place on one under in very difficult conditions and also notched up two top ten finishes on the Challenge Tour - ALLIANZ Golf Open du Grand Toulouse and Fred Olsen Challenge de España.

Moriarty is currently in 42nd place in the Challenge Tour Rankings with the last event at the Apulia San Domenico Grand Final this week in Iyaly set to decide the top 20 places that offer European Tour exemptions for the 2011 season.

Fact File

Date of Birth: June 12th, 1979
lace of Birth: Dublin, Ireland

Attachment: Glasson Golf Hotel & Country Club

Turned Pro 2003 (plus 5)

Qualifying School (2001), (02), (03), 04, 05, (06), 07, (08), 09

5/06/2016

Supplier Focus - Fore Golf

ForeGolf nestled between Naas and Newbridge Co Kildare; just twenty minutes from Dublin with Palmerstown House, The K Club and Carton House golf courses on our doorstep.

In 1997, Derek Murray brought custom fitting to Ireland and developed it for the every day golfer from his time working on the European Tour. A small but perfectly formed company, he now stands shoulder to shoulder with his father Don Murray and Dave Williams, it is their knowledge and expert club building which makes custom fitting by ForeGolf the fastest and most successful way to make you a better golfer.

Yes, we work on the European tour, we have world awards for our club-making, we have custom fitted top tour players, we have our own tour truck full to the brim with gadgets and golf wizardry, but all that means nothing if we can’t make you a better golfer. What happens at ForeGolf works because we take the time to get to know you, understand you and build clubs specifically to suit you.

Our customers are from near and far, you’d be surprised who holds ForeGolf clubs close to their hearts, TV personalities, champion jockeys, premier league footballers, corporate bigwigs, foreign ambassadors and even American footballers but they were golfers who were struggling with their game and needed help.

You can say you’ve got custom fitted clubs, but did you hit some clubs into a net whilst someone declared you slightly taller than standard? That’s not custom fitting, that’s buying a set of clubs.

ForeGolf is different, not everyone is the same, everything is taken into account, your strengths, your weaknesses, your likes, dislikes and it all takes place on our Tour Truck. We are located at a driving range so everything is tested using real ball flight results. You get to try, see and feel clubs from Callaway, Cobra, Golfsmith, Mizuno, Nike, Snake Eyes, Taylor Made, Titleist, Ping and Wilson but each specifically built with different shafts, lengths, and weighted to suit a certain player.

Throughout the session we want to explain the differences between clubs so you understand the process and can instantly recognize the performance of a correctly custom fitted club. We are hard-working and dedicated to our customers, we want you to play better golf, that’s it.

Derek Murray

www.foregolf.ie

5/04/2016

McIlroy Out of BMW PGA Championship

Rory McIlroy

Rory McIlroy will miss the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth this month in a further blow to the European Tour's flagship event.

McIlroy is defending his title in the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow this week and will then contest the Players Championship, followed by the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, an event hosted by his own foundation.

That means the BMW PGA Championship, which he won in 2014, would have been a fourth tournament in a row and the world number three had previously indicated he was not keen on such a schedule following the ankle injury he suffered in 2015.

"The reason I took three weeks off after Augusta was that I'm not going to have more than a week off until after the Ryder Cup. Until October it's going to be very busy," McIlroy said.

"I'm playing here, next week at the Players, the Irish Open and then it's basically week on, week off from there. Memorial, week off, US Open, week off, French Open, week off, Open, week off, PGA, week off, Olympics, week off, Fed Ex Cup, Ryder Cup.

"There's a little bit of travel in there as well so it's a busy stretch coming up and you can't play every week. You want to feel as fresh as you can for every tournament that you play so I feel it's the best way for me to approach it."

The good news for the European Tour is that McIlroy is playing the 100th Open de France instead of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, which he won in 2014.

A re-working of the PGA Tour's 2016 calendar to accommodate golf's return to the Olympics saw the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational brought forward to the end of June, bringing it into direct conflict with the French Open at Le Golf National, venue for the 2018 Ryder Cup.

The European Tour responded by withdrawing its sanction of the WGC event just two days after Shane Lowry won it last August, meaning money won in Akron will not count for Ryder Cup points or towards the Race to Dubai.

The French Open will also offer increased prize money and extra Ryder Cup qualifying points, as well as counting as two of the five tournaments outside majors and WGC events which players now need to play to fulfil their membership.

Speaking ahead of the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai last November, European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley said he wanted to see the BMW PGA Championship offering more prize money than its current "unacceptable" €5 million.

"A lot of people talk about Wentworth as being a flagship event," Pelley said. "Wentworth is €5.1 million. The other event in the US that week is $6 million. That's unacceptable. Wentworth needs to be $8-$10 million dollars.

"The important thing for me at Wentworth is what they do to the West Course. From everything that I have heard, there is significant investment. We are continuing at Wentworth until at least 2018 and if the West Course becomes exactly what they believe it will, and we can increase the prize purse, then perhaps it can be a flagship event going forward.

"Our flagship event right here is the DP World Tour Championship, which is eight million dollars plus a bonus prize."

4/20/2016

Profile - Peter Lawrie

Peter Lawrie, Rabat - Getty Images

Peter Lawrie claimed his maiden European Tour victory at the Open de España in 2008, defeating home favourite Ignacio Garrido in a play-off. Enjoyed a fine performance as defending champion in 2009, finishing tied third.Made history at the end of the 2003 season when he became the first Irish golfer to win the prestigious Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award.

Educated at the University College Dublin where he undertook a golf scholarship. Graduated to The European Tour through the European Challenge Tour, finishing fourth in the Rankings at the end of 2002, helped by a superb victory in the Challenge Tour Grand Final.

The Dublin brn golfer graduated to The European Tour through the European Challenge Tour, finishing fourth in the Rankings at the end of 2002, helped by a superb victory in the Challenge Tour Grand Final. His elevation to The European Tour was testament to his determination, having spent one year on the Asian Tour and three seasons on the Challenge Tour before achieving his goal.

Peter was capped at boys, youths and national level for Ireland as an amateur. In his early days as a professional, he played in Asia and Florida, gaining a ‘Mini Tour’ victory in America’s Sunshine State.

In 2012 Lawrie teed off in his first US Open last year, played at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, having secured a spot through UK qualification.

The next year Lawrie managed a strong finish at the ISPS HANDA Perth International to earn just enough to retain his card.

In 2014 an indifferent season ended with €56,040 in prize money earning him 174th place in the Race to Dubai - and loss of automatic playing rights for 2015.

At The European Tour Final Qualifying Peter Lawrie finished in a share of 29th place at PGA Catalunya and outside the first 25 places required to regain status.

In 2015 the Dubliner, who had finished 124th in the Race to Dubai on the back of 17 invitations, missed again.

Despite that result Lawrie felt his chances of regaining his full playing rights from a lesser category were better in 2016.

“I won’t give up,” said Lawrie afterwards, and expected to get around 22 starts next season.

“I have never been a giver-upper, so I will carry on and I will play next year though apart from the Irish Open, I won’t be seeking invites. I have had my fair share and it’s time for somebody else to get them.”

“It’s like anything,” Lawrie said. “Do you enjoy a job that is not giving you something back? The big problem is the potential golden egg. But sometimes you have to look at the expense account and weigh one up against the other.

“So I’ll play whatever I can get into next year. That’s the plan. From there, we will wait and see.”

In 2016 at the Open de España Lawrie finished in a share of 53rd place at the Real Golf club Valderrama, Hosted by Sergio Garcia Foundation. At the Tshwane Open in South Africa the Dubliner missed the cut and it was his first full event since September.

Factfile

Residence Dublin

Date of Birth: 22/03/1974

Place of Birth Dublin, Ireland

Family Wife: Philippa (m. 2003), Children: Jessica (2005), Amelia Jane (2007), Elizabeth (2009), Christopher (2011)

Interests Snooker, football, cinema

Turned Pro 1997 (plus 2)

Qualifying School 1998, 99, (00), (01) (14) (15)

Peter Lawrie - 2016

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4/12/2016

Lough Erne Resort Loses Irish Open

Lough Erne Resort

The European Tour has announced that the Lough Erne Resort will not host the 2017 Irish Open.

There were doubts in January that the Fermanagh course may not stage the event and this was confirmed on Monday.

The Lough Erne Resort said it was extremely disappointed, adding that the European Tour had decided to "change the venue to a links course".

Tour officials have already visited Portstewart to check its suitability to stage the Irish Open.

In April 2014, it was announced that the 2017 event would be held at Lough Erne and supported financially by the Northern Ireland government.

"During a recent visit to the Lough Erne Resort, I was delighted to meet with the owners and to learn more about their significant investment plans for the golf course and hotel," said Keith Pelley, European Tour Chief Executive, on Monday.

"It is a beautiful facility with an outstanding championship golf course designed by Sir Nick Faldo.

"While the 2017 Irish Open will not be staged at Lough Erne, the European Tour looks forward to working with the new ownership consortium, and I am confident that the Lough Erne Resort will host an event with the European Tour in the future."

The Lough Erne Resort failed to persuade the European Tour to keep the event at the Fermanagh venue.

It added: "Over the last several months, senior tour officials began telling us that European Tour management was considering a 'traditional links course strategy' for future Irish Opens.

"We have remained steadfast in our position not to accept this change from the Tour, and we have spent the last few months trying to work with Tour officials at the highest level to persuade them to keep their commitment to Lough Erne Resort and the region.

"However, despite our willingness to work with the Tour in every way to convince them to maintain their commitment, they have made the decision to change the venue to a traditional links course in 2017."

2/18/2016

Rory Excited About Riviera Debut

Getty Images

Rory McIlroy says he is excited about his Northern Trust Open debut this week at Riviera Country Club as he starts his tournament build-up in the United States for the Masters in April.

While the opening Major championship of the year will be firmly in his mind over the next two months, McIlroy has long desired to compete at Riviera, which is consistently ranked by the players as one of the top courses on the PGA Tour.

“I wanted to come here because of what I had seen on TV, and the great things that people say about Riviera,” world number three McIlroy, 26, told reporters on Wednesday after playing in the pre-tournament pro-am competition.

“And this was the perfect timing. I had a week off after all the stuff I did in the Middle East (on the European Tour), and that gave me time to sort of regroup and get myself over to the West Coast. It just fitted into the schedule.”

The iconic par-71 layout at Riviera is a ball-striker’s paradise where long, medium and short hitters can all thrive.

“It’s a real treat when you come to a golf course like this where it’s not overly long, you don’t have to really bomb it off the tee, but it’s real strategic,” said McIlroy, a four-times Major winner.

“It’s a real thinker’s golf course and it’s a real treat to play something like this because we don’t get to play them that often anymore.”

McIlroy will be making his first PGA Tour appearance of the year this week after recording top-six finishes in his last three events on the European Tour dating back to November – all three of them in the United Arab Emirates.

“A couple of things in Dubai I wasn’t quite happy with, so I worked on those in Florida last week,” he said, referring to his tie for sixth at the Dubai Desert Classic earlier this month.

“I tweaked my driver a little bit. I felt like I was struggling to turn it over from right-to-left, so I put the loft up. I felt like the rest of my game was in pretty good shape.”

McIlroy has plenty of top-quality tournament golf on his schedule between now and the April 7th-10th Masters, including next week’s Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens and the first two World Golf Championships events of the year.

“These tournaments that we’ve got coming up, we’ve got some of the strongest fields of the year,” added McIlroy.

“This is the start of the road to the Masters and for everyone, if not thinking about it directly, it’s definitely in the back of their minds. Obviously I’d love my game to be in peak shape for Augusta in April.”

Meanwhile, world number one Jordan Spieth will look to make amends for one of the few mistakes he made in 2015 by winning this week.

Spieth was in contention for what would have been just his second PGA Tour title at Riviera Country Club 12 months ago and thought he needed to birdie the last to keep pace with the leaders.

However, in attempting to hole a chip from just off the green, the 22-year-old ran the ball eight feet past the hole and missed the par putt, which would have been good enough for a play-off after Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia both bogeyed the 17th.

“Last year it was a crazy finish and it kind of taught me a little something about this golf course,” Spieth told a pre-tournament press conference. “You just never know exactly what’s going to happen at Riviera coming down the stretch.

“I was thinking I needed to birdie 18 for a play-off. Turns out, with I think Dustin and Sergio bogeying the 17th, I ended up one out of the three-way play-off (won by James Hahn).

“So (it was) a little bizarre, but that just kind of teaches you how it works sometimes. Sometimes it’s not birdies to win. Sometimes on harder golf courses, even on a tour event and it’s a non-Major championship, sometimes par is a really good score.

“Unfortunately it’s rare, but fortunately it happens here. So it would mean a lot to win this tournament.

“For me to win on a golf course that I consider one of the top few in the world, that’s always a goal. It would be amazing.”

Spieth did not have to wait long to taste victory of course, winning the Valspar Championship just three weeks later. That was one of five victories in 2015 including the Masters, US Open and Tour Championship, the latter securing the overall FedEx Cup title and $10 million bonus.

And having already won the Tournament of Champions by eight shots in Hawaii in January, Spieth believes he can learn from all those wins in order to avoid making the kind of mistake which cost him at Riviera 12 months ago.

“When pressure comes on, I can now really relate and look back to a lot of key moments where I’ve hit shots in the past when the pressure has been on where I felt like I did what I wanted to do,” Spieth added.

“I mean, that on its own is the kind of priceless experience that I can then get up and do it again.

“I think I’ve gotten a lot better putting under pressure, but to be able to stand up and really focus in on a specific target, and work either ball flight on to that target, whether it’s driving it or striking an iron shot, that’s definitely improved when the pressure is on.”

1/27/2016

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.