Hoey Set for Galgorm Challenge

Michael Hoey completes a hat-trick of years as Tournament Ambassador for the Northern Ireland Open in Association with Sphere Global and Ulster Bank this week with his enthusiasm for both Northern Irish golf and the important role the European Challenge Tour plays in players’ development unabated.

The 36 year old has been involved in the tournament ever since its inception in 2013 and has seen it grow to become the best-attended event on the Challenge Tour, with more than 30,000 fans turning out last year and more expected this week.

Since graduating from the Challenge Tour, Hoey has won five times on The European Tour, and he is excited by the prospect of being joined by more of his countrymen in the near future.

“We haven’t always had that much depth in Northern Irish golf,” he said. “I know we’ve had the tip of the iceberg in Rory (McIlroy), Graeme (McDowell) and Darren (Clarke) and it’s been unbelievable, but myself and Gareth Maybin have been the only others on The European Tour.

“We need a few more additions to that I think, but it looks like we’re going to get them pretty soon. Chris Selfridge has just turned professional and has done great. It looks like he’s going to be on The European Tour very soon and certainly he’s going to be on the Challenge Tour because he’s done well enough.

“Young Tom McKibbin (pictured below) just won the Under 12 World Junior Championships over in America and he’s played the pro-am this week, so he’s a great addition to our field.

“He’s doing what Rory did when he was that age by winning that, which is awesome. My coach Johnny Foster has a lot of young talent, not just Tom but a lot of other teenagers coming through.

“There are a lot of Northern Irish guys coming through, be they from Tom’s age through to Chris.

“I’ve played Challenge Tour myself so I know what it’s like. There’s a lot of good young players this week who will be wanting to get onto The European Tour, some of the older guys who will want to get back on, so there’s a lot of different perspectives this week from young guys to old guys to local talent to people from all over the world.

“I got on The European Tour in 2006 from finishing in the Challenge Tour top ten in 2005 but then my game wasn’t good enough to stay there.

“I came back onto the Challenge Tour in 2008, won a couple of times, was around 20th but not quite inside the top 20, but playing on the Challenge Tour for those years really helped me when I got back on The European Tour.

“But the standard on the Challenge Tour is really good and those years taught me a lot, having somewhere that’s very competitive and you play four rounds of golf.

“It’s a massively important thing and the standard’s getting better every week, the scoring’s really good and it’s a great tour.”

There's a lot of Northern Irish guys coming through and the Northern Ireland Open has a great atmosphere - it feels like a European Tour event with the crowds we get

Hoey comes into this week showing good form after reaching the quarter finals at last week’s Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Matchplay, though he admits he is more concerned with making this week’s event as successful as possible than any personal glory.

“My golf is not that important this week,” he said. “Obviously I’d like to do as well as I can, but it’s a different position to be in as Tournament Ambassador, and the money doesn’t count towards The European Tour.

“Three years ago the guys up here got in contact with us and needed help from the government and needed a named player.

“I was able, because I was playing on The European Tour, to use my name and help with some funding for the tournament and I think that’s made a big difference, and I’m fortunate to have been in a position to be able to do that.

“Getting all the sponsors involved has been difficult, but Ulster Bank and all the other smaller sponsors have been great, and this year Sphere Global are involved as well which is fantastic, they’re a really successful company.

“It feels like a European Tour event with the crowds we get. It’s a great atmosphere if the weather’s decent, though it doesn’t matter how bad the weather is because a lot of people will always come out to watch. It’s one of the premier events on the Challenge Tour so I’m looking forward to it.”

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Harrington and Kieffer Lead

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Padraig Harrington took advantage of marginally easier conditions in the afternoon to share the first round lead with fellow late starter Max Kieffer at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Hosted by the Rory Foundation.

Former winner Harrington carded a four under par 67 at Royal County Down, which was only matched by German Kieffer in the final group.

Harrington, who won the Honda Classic in March on the US PGA Tour, is looking to end a winless stretch on The European Tour that goes back to the 2008 US PGA Championship.

The 43 year old from Dublin was one over par after ten holes before carding five birdies in the next six to finish level with Kieffer and one shot ahead of former Ryder Cup team-mate Søren Hansen.

"After nine or ten holes I thought to myself 'C'mon, we've got to hit a good shot, no need to be afraid,'" said Harrington, who lasted just two holes at Wentworth last week before pulling out with a shoulder injury, but received intensive treatment and narrowly missed out on qualifying for the US Open Championship four days later.

"I know from experience now that I'm in a position where there's many ways of competing in this tournament. I've two options; play great from now on and try and get away from the field or play average and fight it out on Sunday afternoon."

Kieffer had an eagle on the long 12th and reached five under at one stage only to bogey the eighth – his penultimate hole.

“I played good, and I think the key was today to hole some putts,” said the 24 year old, who is still searching for a maiden European Tour title two years after beng pipped in a marathon play-off for the Open de Espaa by Raphal Jacquelin.

“I had two three-putts from off the green on the front nine, but then I made two long putts after that, so that really like kept the momentum up. That was really nice.

“It's a long week. It's a tough golf course. Some of the best players in the world, they struggle to shoot par around here, so it's going to be an interesting next three days, I think.”

McIlroy carded nine bogeys and no birdies in an opening 80 as only seven of the 78 morning starters broke par.

"It was not quite as difficult as I made it look," McIlroy admitted with a wry smile after an opening round played in cold, blustery conditions and the occasional rain shower.

"I was hitting it well on the range, keeping it down and hitting half shots, but the wind was not up that much on the course and I was caught between trying to play two ways. That led to missing greens, which led to lots of eight to 12 foot putts for par, which led to missing all of them."

McIlroy has pledged to donate all of his prize money this week to his charitable foundation, while his association with the event ensured a top-class field and a sell-out crowd of 20,000 each day.

"It's disappointing because I want to go out there and play well, not just for myself but for a lot of other people," McIlroy added. "I'll just have to pick myself up and go out there tomorrow and shoot a good one. I want to give the fans something to cheer about and not just get sympathy claps as I got coming off the ninth green.

"My goal will be to make some birdies, make my first birdie of the tournament at some point. I've missed the cut the last two years so I don't want to make it three in a row. I want to at least go out there tomorrow and fight for it, try to claw my way back towards the cut line and if I can sneak in there, that'll be great."

Playing alongside McIlroy, Rickie Fowler carded an opening 71 in his first outing since winning the Players Championship at Sawgrass, while Luke Donald went one better with a 70.

Donald dropped out of the Official World Golf Ranking's top 60 on Monday to miss out on qualifying for the US Open, but could claim one of three places up for grabs in The Open at St Andrews by finishing in the top ten here.

"I'm trying not to think about that too much, I'm just trying to play a solid tournament and get some consistency," the former World Number One said.

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Rory McIlroy Cut at Wentworth

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Rory McIlroy limped to a disappointing early exit from the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth after missing the halfway cut by four shots.

The world No 1 again looked out of sorts and short on energy as he stuttered to an error-strewn second-round 78 featuring six bogeys and a double-bogey at the 11th, finishing well down the field on five over par.

Playing the fourth of five tournaments in succession, McIlroy had admitted he was mentally fatigued following his opening 71 which was littered with frustrated outbursts, including hurling his three-wood away in disgust at the 17th which could incur a fine from the European Tour.

Despite having a later tee time for day two, McIlroy was clearly still suffering the effects of his busy schedule and, after opening with a pair of pars, he found three bunkers on the third hole alone before salvaging a bogey with an excellent up-and-down.

McIlroy dropped another shot at the fifth, although he gave himself a lift with a birdie at the eighth before making a torrid start to the back nine. He followed a bogey at 10 with an ugly six at the 11th after another wayward tee shot forced him to take an unplayable lie, and he then hooked his third into the crowd and hit a spectator.

He bunkered another errant drive at the 13th and again failed to save par, and his shoulders sagged further after another bogey at 16 ended any slim hopes of being around for the weekend.

A birdie at 17 was scant consolation, and his performance was summed up at the last when he sculled his second from the left rough to short of the green, pitched 15 feet past the flag and three-putted to close with a six.

McIlroy had not missed a cut in a European Tour event since last June's Irish Open, a tournament he is hosting next week at Royal County Down before he takes a well-earned break prior to preparing for next month's US Open at Chambers Bay.

"I'm not going to read too much into it," he said afterwards. "It was inevitable at some point the run was going to come to a bit of an end. I am back to my usual at Wentworth! It was not great before last year and it has not been great this year.

"I think it was a bit of mental fatigue, especially when I was trying to muster up a few birdies coming down the back nine. I just couldn't get anything going. I would much rather be here for the weekend but if any good comes of this I have a couple of days over the weekend to refresh myself and I will be okay for next week.

"I'm not angry, just a little disappointed I'm not going to be here for the weekend. But coming off the back of three good weeks in the States, I'm probably in need of a rest. I'd rather still be here, but it's not all bad getting to go home for the weekend.

"Any time you're defending a title, you want to come back and give it a valiant effort. This week wasn't really that, but I'll dust myself off and get ready for a big week next week at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open."

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Ilonen Leads On Day One at Fota

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Mikko Ilonen carded a course record 64 at Fota Island Resort to establish a two shot lead after the first round of the Irish Open.

The 35 year old from Finland made eight birdies and dropped just the one shot during his seven under par effort, which left him two clear of Germany’s Marcel Siem, former European Number One Robert Karlsson and his fellow Swede Magnus A Carlsson.

Having turned in a three under 32 Ilonen bogeyed the first – his tenth – after missing the green with a wedge in hand.

Ilonen, who won the British Amateur title in 2000 at next month's Open Championship venue Hoylake, is looking to climb into the Official World Golf Ranking's top 50 for the first time and boosted his chances with five birdies in his last seven holes.

“It was a slow start really,” said Ilonen, who lost a play-off to Sergio Garcia for the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters earlier in the year.

“The first sort of four or five holes I felt like I can't get anything going, but I stayed patient and then the birdies kept coming. In the end I managed to hit a couple of good putts which was nice.”

Siem stormed home in just 29 shots – almost holing his approach to the 14th in the process – as he carded seven birdies and two bogeys in his round of 66.

That was swiftly matched by Karlsson, who would have held second outright but for a missed five footer at the last following a sensational wedge approach.

The 44 year old has gone four years without a European Tour victory, but showed signs of return to form with a brilliant closing 63 at the recent Nordea Masters and started here with a bogey-free round.

"It was nice, I'm very, very happy," said Karlsson.

"I worked quite hard when I've been at home since the Nordea Masters, so it's been nice to keep it going.

"I've done a bit of work with my coach and things are coming together quite nicely. The long game was very, very good today."

Carlsson is targeting his first European Tour victory after two runner-up finishes, carded six birdies and a single bogey.

Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington returned a two under 69 matched by defending champion Paul Casey, who dropped two shots in his last six holes to finish one behind playing partner Graeme McDowell.

English teenager Matt Fitzpatrick, who was the leading amateur in last week's US Open, carded a one over 72 in his first tournament round as a professional.

Rory McIlroy could only manage an opening 74, despite the 25 year old having the added incentives of being able to move top of The Race to Dubai and getting back inside the top five on the Official World Golf Ranking with a good performance.

"I still drove the ball great and got in the positions that you need to, but short-sided myself a couple of times, hit a couple of loose shots with my wedges and could not get a putt to drop," said McIlroy, who had carded an approximate 62 in Wednesday's pro-am.

"I was pretty sloppy with the scoring clubs so I might head to the range this afternoon to work on those. I need to do better tomorrow to be here for the weekend."

Michael Hoey signed for a 68 and  shares 9th place with McDowell and  a number of others.

Peter Lawrie matched Harrington with an opening 69, along with Amateur Gavin Moynihan.

Shane Lowry, Kevin Phelan, John Kelly, Garethr Maybin and Cian McNamara all carded 71's.

David Higgins, Darren Clarke, Damien McGrane, Simon Thornton and Amateur Gary Hurley were a stroke further back.

Paul McGinley signed for a 73 and is joined in that crowded group by Brian McElhinney and Dermot McElroy AM.

With McIlroy on 74, four players two strokes behind - Mark Staunton, Gareth Shaw, Eamonn Brady and Daniel Sugrue. 

Damian Mooney finished n 77 along with Ruardhri McGee.

Robbie Cannon AM ended the day on 79 strokes.

Brendan McGovern was eleven strokes over par on 88.

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