Harrington Backs The Wild Thing

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Padraig Harrington defended playing-partner John Daly, the 1995 Open Champion, who posted a round of 90 during last week's Valspar Championship at Innisbrook in Florida.

The 47-year-old's card included an eight-over-par 12 at the 16th, plus three other double bogeys.

The American missed the cut by 19 shots but Harrington believes he did not give up during his second circuit of the Copperhead course.

Twice Open Champion Harrington said: "He came out pressing as we all did on Friday after a 74.

"But he was very respectful to play with. He was useful out there. He was trying in terms of lines and getting clubs and things like that.

"You could see what he was doing. It wasn't like I wouldn't prefer him to be there.

"But he didn't walk in. He didn't stop trying. He tried to hit the right shots on the last two holes. It didn't seem to us he was shooting that score.

"If I was going to say anything, it's that he tries too hard. He's caring too much. I know that's not what people see."

Daly, a winner of two major titles in the 1990s, is currently ranked outside the world's top 500.

David Duval, winner of The Open in 2001, also plays this week in a season he has deemed as his comeback year. He is currently ranked 195th in FedEx rankings.

Graeme McDowell was due to tee off with Tiger Woods and Harris English. However Woods has now withdrawn from the tournament he has dominated over the years due to injury.

Darren Clarke is paired with JJ Henry and Vijay Singh.

Padraig Harrington plays with  Camilo Villegas and Erik Compton.

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Daly Milk Leads to 68

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John Daly spent three months putting ice on his elbow and chocolate milk in his belly, and he returned Thursday feeling better than he has in years.

Playing for the first time since surgery to repair the tendon in his right elbow, Daly played bogey-free in strong wind and opened with a 4-under 68 in the BMW Masters and was alone in second place, three shots behind Luke Guthrie.

Daly withdrew after three holes of the second round at The Greenbrier Classic on July 5 and had surgery a week later. He figured he would be out for at least four months, but returned a few weeks earlier than his doctor expected.

"I've always been a quick healer. I don't know why," Daly said. "He figured four months. I did everything he told me to do. I usually don't listen to anybody."

Daly received a sponsor's exemption into the BMW Masters, in part because of a relationship formed when he won the BMW International Open in Germany in 2001. The wind blew about 30 mph across many of the holes at Lake Malaren. It was a good test for Daly, because he needed to hit several three-quarter shots to keep the ball flight down in the wind. That's the shot that had been giving him trouble.

He kept bogeys off this card, picked up a pair of birdies on the par 5s and his late one on the par-3 17th. Daly caught a break on the 18th when someone stepped on his ball in the rough, allowing for a drop. He came up just short of the green, and his 50-foot chip stopped one turn away from falling.

Daly would have settled for anything around par on this blustery day in Shanghai. He said he could play well Friday and shoot 80 in this kind of wind.

The 68 exceeded his expectations. More than a number, he was pleased with how he controlled his distance.

"What's been a blessing is to be able to pinch golf shots," he said. "Full shots are easier than three-quarter shots, because you have to hit it harder. I haven't had a right hand in golf for probably six years. It feels good just having two arms to swing again. I feel like I can control the golf ball. That three-quarter shot is my bread-and-butter. You've got to have it on a day like this, and I executed it."

Daly rolled up the sleeve of his wind vest to reveal a scar on the right elbow. He said doctors inserted two screws and wrapped tendons both ways, and he never flinched or felt any pain on any of his shots.

He returned looking a bit heavier than in the summer, and part of that was by design. He felt he needed to add some weight to regain strength, and it was an easy fix.

"I drank a ton of Vitamin D milk," Daly said. "My mom always told me the old remedy was to drink a lot of milk. But I put a lot of chocolate syrup in mine."

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McIlroy Copies Bobby Jones

The news breaking on Friday from Florida and The Honda Classic places Rory McIlroy in an exclusive – if somewhat unwanted short list - of Irish players to walk off a golf course mid round. In doing so he joins another Ryder Cup player, Ronan Rafferty, who was fined £5,000 pounds for doing the same thing during the 1991 US Open at Hazeltine. In departing the PGA National at Palm Beach Gardens the world number 1 leaves Jack Nicklaus record safely intact of winning the event back to back... 

However having carded 7 over by the turn that 35 year old record was not under any threat from McIlroy – this week at least. 

Last year John Daly hit six balls into the water at the Australian Open and then shook hands with playing partner Craig Parry before walking off the course at Coolum. But then again The Wild Thing had form having also walked off during his second round at the Austrian Open at Atzenbrugg in the same months, following a rules infringement. In Australia Daly had been penalised two shots at the 10th hole for hitting the wrong ball out of a bunker, leaving him seven over approaching the 11th. 

“When you run out of balls, you run out of balls. Yes I shook my playing partner's hands and signed my card with [the] rules official." Daly said afterwards. 

In 2005 Dane Thomas Bjorn lead by four strokes at the K Club on the final day of the European Masters only to sign for a 14-over par 86 on the Sunday, ending up nine strokes adrift in a tie for 33rd. It was a day he lived a 16-shot swing - a record on the European Tour by five shots – as it eclipsed Nick Faldo's 11-shot swing over Greg Norman in the final round of the 1996 Masters. Although Bjorn three-putted the last the real drama had come at the par-four 17th, where he hit three balls into the River Liffey on his way to a seven-over 11. All of which followed five dropped shots in the first 10 holes. 

The two time Ryder Cup vice-Captain had shown brittleness a year previous when he walked off the course after only six holes of the same vent – and at the same venue. 

At the time the experience for Bjorn was described as even worse than the implosion in the final round of the 2003 Open Championship at Royal St George's when American Ben Curtis became the surprise beneficiary. On that day Bjorn took three shots to escape from a greenside bunker at the par-three 16th at a time that had been leading the event by three shots. 

Like McIlroy that collapse came in the full media gaze and for Rory it also comes on the wake of the much remarked switch to Nike Golf clubs. 

It also comes on the foot of a few consecutive missed cuts - and a first round defeat to Shane Lowry at the WGC Accenture match play- all of which only adds to the pressure. But the world number one has been here before, and is well able to bounce back. Indeed The Masters would now look a more likely victory for him given he will arrive at Augusta with little expectations. Especially if the Blue Monster also does damage when he plays the WGC Cadillac in a few weeks. 

But whatever the underlying reason for McIlroy's actions it also places him up there with Bobby Jones, who played the Old Course at St. Andrews for the first time at the 1921 British Open. And it was not to be a positive experience as Jones simply walked off the course during the third round after he took four swings at his ball in a deep bunker on the 11th e, and failed to get the ball out. 

After which he then picked up the ball and walked off. 

As we know now the rest was history at St Andrews in subsequent years. No doubt for Rory it will be the same after the media frenzy dies down and the fines are paid...

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Where is everybody?

For the Irish Open at Royal Portrush a new star of Northern Ireland golf is grabbing the attention of millions of television viewers in the run up to the event. 

His name is Bramble and golf fans throughout Ireland have enjoyed watching him sink putts at the famous north coast golf course on TV. What people don’t know is that this particular golfer, from Crumlin in County Antrim, happens to be blind.

Another remarkable fact is that this new rival to Northern Ireland’s ‘holy trinity’ of golf – Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke - is only one year old.

The latest golfing sensation to come from the new ‘home of golf’ is none other than Bramble the Hedgehog, the unexpected star of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board’s latest television commercial to promote this year’s Irish Open.

Bramble is currently a permanent resident of a Wildlife Centre in Crumlin run by TACT (Talnotry Avian Care Trust), a charity which cares for and rehabilitates sick, injured and abandoned wild birds and mammals. Bramble was brought in from the wild when he was just a few days old and being blind has been lovingly looked after ever since. 

NITB destination marketing and PR manager Ruth Burns explains, she wasn’t expecting Bramble to become the star of the show.

“We chose Bramble to appear as an extra in the advert with shots of him scurrying across the green but he ended up impressing us all as he knocked the ball into the hole which was the perfect finish to the advert, and all the more remarkable when you consider that the poor wee fellow is blind.

“He’s now become the most talked about hedgehog in Northern Ireland and I’m pleased to say that he seemed to enjoy the experience as much as any of us.” 

The TV advert is part of an all-Ireland marketing drive to promote the Irish Open as a key event in NITB’s ongoing ‘ni2012: Our Time Our Place’ campaign. 

 The campaign runs across TV, radio and press with outdoor advertising at key ports of entry to the country and additional promotional literature distributed to golf clubs across Ireland. The TV campaign teed off in the Republic of Ireland earlier this month and hits Northern Ireland screens on May 28, running until June 24.

This year’s Irish Open is set to be one of the biggest in the competition’s history with some 100,000 spectators expected over the four days of the event from Thursday June 28 to Sunday July 1.

“Tickets have been selling faster this year than for many years which is no surprise given the strength of the line-up which includes three of current Major golf champions in our own Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke, and the American USPGA Champion Keegan Bradley,” said NITB chief executive Alan Clarke

“Add the likes of Graeme McDowell, Padraig Harrington, John Daly and newly crowned World Matchplay Champion Nicolas Colsaerts from Belgium, to name bit a few, and it really promises to be a fantastic tournament.

“The fact that the Irish Open is returning to Northern Ireland for the first time in sixty years has created a real buzz around the event and I would advise golf fans not to risk turning up on the day expecting to purchase a ticket as they will most likely be disappointed, particularly at the weekend,” he added.

For more information on accommodation offers for the Irish Open as well as details on all of Northern Ireland’s golf courses and other ni 2012 events, click onwww.discovernorthernireland.com or www.ni2012.com

Advance day tickets for the Irish Open are available for £30, a saving of £5 on the gate price, with four day season tickets priced at £70, a saving of £10. Advance concession day and season tickets are priced at £20 and £50 respectively. 

Hospitality packages are sold out for the first two days, but are still available on Saturday and Sunday.

John Daly Added to Irish Open

John Daly is the latest high-profile name to sign up to play at next month's Irish Open at Royal Portrush.

The two-time Major winner has accepted a sponsor's invite to join Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke at the event.

It will be the fifth time that Daly, 46, plays in the tournament, having missed the cut on his most recent visit in 2009 at Baltray.

The Irish Open takes place at Royal Portrush from June 28 to July 1.

Sicilian Open Pairs Daly and Rocca

At the Sicilian Open this week the Irish interest includes Gary Murphy, Shane Lowry, Peter Lawrie, Gareth Maybin, Paul McGinley and Simon Thornton. 

For McGinley it should prove a better opportunity than last week in Agadir, where after jet lag and lack of sleep - following his appearance at the Tavistock Cup in lake Nona - forced his retirement.

But another interest for the first two days is the pairing of John Daly and Costantino Rocca, seventeen years after their epic battle at The Open Championship at St Andrews.

Rocca is now 55 and plays nearly all his golf on the Seniors Tour, but 45-year-old Daly is still striving to get back into the big time. No longer a full member of the PGA Tour, he has been travelling the world to try to do it.

After the promise of fourth place at the Qatar Masters early last month, the American then injured his elbow in India.

He was 51st on his return to action at the Transitions Championship in Florida two weeks ago, but last Friday missed the halfway cut at the Hassan Trophy in Morocco. “Seems like yesterday,” he said of his clash with Rocca at St Andrews in 1995.

Rocca made a dramatic 60ft par putt from the Valley of Sin to force the play-off, but Daly won it to add the Claret Jug to his 1991 USPGA Championship victory.

He should have happy memories as well of the last time he and Rocca were at the same tournament. That was the 2009 Italian Open in Turin, and Daly finished joint runner-up behind Argentina’s Daniel Vancsik.

Highest-ranked player in this week’s field is 18-year-old Italian Matteo Manassero, who despite finishes of second and sixth in the past fortnight could not force his way back into the world’s top 50 in time for next week’s Masters.

“I’ve played great in my last two tournaments so the confidence is there and I am really looking forward to Sicily now,” he told the European Tour’s website.

“The Masters would have been an amazing bonus if I had won last week, but I have a great chance to win this week, and that would be a great achievement. I think everybody would love to win in their home country.”

France’s Raphael Jacquelin won at Donnafugata last year, but the tournament switches to the Verdura Golf and Spa Resort.

There is one player in the field who is Augusta-bound, but Thomas Levet is going there to commentate for French television again rather than play. He partners Daly and Rocca and has something in common with them. He was in a play-off for the Open at Muirfield 10 years ago, but lost at the fifth extra hole to Ernie Els.

Welshman Jamie Donaldson, meanwhile, will hope his three-eagle 61 on Sunday is a sign of things to come. This is his 249th Tour start and he has yet to win. England’s 51-year-old Barry Lane plays his 681st event, only 25 fewer than record holder Sam Torrance.