Lowry Hopes to make it in Denmark

Shane Lowry has become the latest high-profile European Tour star to join the field for this month’s Made in Denmark, as the Irishman attempts to play his way into Europe’s team for The 2016 Ryder Cup.

It will be a maiden appearance for Lowry at Denmark’s only European Tour event, which this year has the honour of being the final counting event for the 41st edition of The Ryder Cup, due to be staged at Hazeltine National, in Minnesota, from September 30-October 2.

The 29 year old is relishing the opportunity of making a late case for inclusion in Captain Darren Clarke’s team when the third edition of the tournament takes place at Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort, from August 25-28.

“I can’t wait to get to Denmark for what could be a big week for me,” said the three-time European Tour winner. “I’m determined to play my way onto The Ryder Cup team, so it was a fairly easy decision for me to play that week, and one I hope will pay off.

“I’ve heard great things about this event and especially the fans, which suits me as I love playing in front of big crowds. So hopefully I can show them what I’m capable of, and peak at just the right time.”

Lowry is joined in the field by his fellow Irishman Clarke, who will have more than just his own game on his mind as he finalises his team for Hazeltine.

Martin Kaymer, another player chasing a wildcard pick for the Ryder Cup, will also make his Made in Denmark debut as the two-time Major winner hunts a 12th European Tour title.

Other Ryder Cup hopefuls in the field include Englishmen Matthew Fitzpatrick and Chris Wood, both of whom currently occupy automatic qualification spots; while home favourite Søren Kjeldsen will also be hoping to put on a strong showing in front of Captain Clarke as he too bids to secure a wildcard pick.

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Christy O'Connor 1924 - 2016

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Christy O'Connor Senior died in Dublin on Saturday, aged 91.

The Galway native won more than 20 tournaments on the Irish and British circuit and finished in the top 10 of The Open on 10 occasions.

O'Connor competed in every Ryder Cup between 1955 and 1973 and was inducted into the prestigious World Golf Hall of Fame in 2009.

He was uncle to Christy O'Connor Junior, who died in January aged 67.

O'Connor Senior won the British Masters in 1956 and 1959 and his best finish in The Open was tied-second at Royal Birkdale in 1965, two strokes behind Peter Thompson.

He often explained his chances of winning a major were greatly diminished by the fact he could rarely afford to travel to the United States.

O'Connor Senior also played in 15 World Cups, winning in 1958 with Harry Bradshaw.

He won six PGA Senior Championships between 1976 and 1983.

Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke said he learned the news with "great sadness".

"Christy was in many ways the father of Irish golf and his death, so soon after that of his nephew, Christy Junior, means that Ireland has lost two Ryder Cup legends in the space of five months.

"Christy Senior was a golf icon and a wonderful person as well. He did so much for the game he graced for many years while the Ryder Cup to some extent is what it is today because of his passion for it.

"Irish golf in particular and golf in general has lost one of its greatest heroes."

A member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and his nephew Christy O'Connor Jnr, also a Ryder Cup player and died suddenly in January at the age of 67.

The older O'Connor, known as 'Himself' among his fellow players, achieved a best finish of second in The Open Championship.

Ryder Cup director Richard Hills said: "Today we have lost not only one of the greatest Ryder Cup players the game has even seen, but an incredible man.

"My abiding memory of Christy is phoning him with George O'Grady to break the news that he'd been elected into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2009, and he wouldn't believe us.

"He said he'd only believe it if he saw it in writing, so I was dispatched to Royal Dublin to present him with a letter. As he read it, his face broke into a huge grin and he gave me a massive bear hug.

"The other thing that sticks out for me is how Seve Ballesteros used to watch him. When Seve, who as we all know was a genius of a player, first came out on tour in 1976, he would seek out Christy to watch him practise and watch his hands. Christy was built like a bull but he had incredible hands for golf.

"Christy did so much for the game of golf and his legacy will long live on. After the tragic, sudden death of his nephew, Christy O'Connor Jr, in January, golf has lost two of its greatest men.

"On behalf of everyone at the European Tour, our condolences go to the O'Connor family."

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Bon Jour as McIlroy Commits to France

McIlroy - Getty Images

Rory McIlroy will miss the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in America this summer to play at the 100th Open de France.

The clash between the two tournaments has occurred following a re-working of the PGA Tour's 2016 calendar to accommodate the Rio Olympics in August, where golf will return again to the programme.

Moving the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational forward a month has caused friction between the European and PGA Tours.

Four-time Major winner McIlroy won the prestigious Bridgestone event in Akron two years ago, but he feels playing at Le Golf National near Paris - the host venue for the 2018 Ryder Cup - from June 30-July 3 will help his Open chances at Royal Troon.

"I feel that playing in the 100th Open de France at Le Golf National will be the best way to get ready for The Open, which is just two weeks after the French Open," McIlroy said.

"Le Golf National might not be a pure links course, but it is traditionally firm and fast and can throw up some tricky conditions during the French Open.

"It's a great test of golf and I think playing there, as well as staying in Europe, will offer the best conditions to prepare for The Open at Troon."

Northern Ireland star McIlroy has previously played twice in the French Open, in 2008 and 2010.

The world number three failed to defend the Bridgestone Invitational title he won in 2014 last August after rupturing ankle ligaments caused during a football game with friends.

McIlroy's decision will come as a huge boost for the European Tour which was annoyed by the PGA Tour moving the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational into the same week as the French Open, continental Europe's oldest national championship.

Last summer the European Tour withdrew its sanction for the WGC event.

That means the Bridgestone Invitational is not part of the 2016 European Tour international schedule, and money won in it will not count towards The Race to Dubai or for Ryder Cup points.

This year’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open hosted by the Rory Foundation takes place at The K Club on May 19 - 22, 2016.

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Captain Clarke Hails European Masters

Darren Clarke at Portrush Golf Club

Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke has hailed the “wonderful” performance of Europe’s top players at the US Masters.

With champion Danny Willett one of seven Europeans in the top 15 at Augusta, Clarke said the final leaderboard had delivered a real positive ahead of the much-anticipated showdown with the United States in the autumn.

Clarke also spent time with golf fan Alex Ferguson at Augusta and said he intended to visit him again in England to pick the former Manchester United manager’s brain.

The former Open champion, who missed the cut in Georgia, was at his home club at Royal Portrush on Tuesday to launch the start of a Ryder Cup trophy tour.

“It was a wonderful week from a European perspective,” Clarke said of the Masters.

“With the winner Danny Willett and indeed Lee Westwood playing a lot better and Justin Rose and Matt Fitzpatrick, there were so many Europeans up there in the top 10.

“So it was a very positive week for the Europeans.”

Willett’s victory was the first major of the Yorkshireman’s career, but Clarke said it came as no surprise to him.

“He’s been playing really well now for a couple of years, I am a good friend of his, I’ve spent a lot of time with him and his game has just been getting better and better,” said Europe’s Ryder Cup captain.

“It’s certainly no surprise whatsoever. He’s performed really well, especially of late again, and from a personal point of view I was delighted to see him win.”

Clarke, 47, said it was also great to see his close friend Westwood — who finished joint second at Augusta — contending in a major again.

“To see him playing in the manner and fashion that I know he can is certainly very, very heartening,” he said.

With so many up and coming stars emerging, Europe’s team is predicted to have quite a few fresh faces as they look to win the Ryder Cup for a fourth successive time.

Clarke insisted there was a long way to go in qualifying, though.

“It’s a long way off before the team is finalised, a lot of big tournaments, a lot of Ryder Cup points to be played for,” he said.

“While the make-up of the team at the moment may look slightly different to what we are used to, come the end of August I think it might be a little bit different.”

Clarke said Ferguson had given him “lots of advice” at Augusta.

“There would be very few people who have had as successful a career as he has had,” he said.

“He was very, very helpful. I will go over and spend a bit more time with him shortly over in Manchester — he was more than willing to help me.

“As a Liverpool fan it was quite difficult, but you know the man is a legend.”

The trophy tour will see the iconic prize travelling around Europe and the US ahead of September’s encounter. Its next stop will be Belfast City Hall on Wednesday.

“To have the Ryder Cup trophy tour start off here in Northern Ireland is very, very special,” said Clarke.

“To have it here at Royal Portrush, I only live up on the hill up there, so it’s wonderful to start off here.”

The 2016 Ryder Cup is being held at Hazeltine in the United States and takes place from September 30th to October 2nd.

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Clarke in Love at Hazeltine

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Darren Clarke insists there will be no controversial gamesmanship at next year’s competition following the uproar at the women’s Solheim Cup.

Clarke said the incident at the Solheim Cup, when Europe’s Suzann Pettersen insisted on penalising the USA’s Alison Lee for picking up her ball after she believed a putt had been conceded, was against the spirit of golf.

Speaking at a news conference with USA captain Davis Love III to mark a year to go to the Ryder Cup at Hazeltine, Minnesota, Clarke said: “This Ryder Cup will be played in the manner in which Davis and I respect each other.

“We’ve been friends for such a long time; I hold Davis in the highest regard. He’s been a good friend but probably one of the best gentlemen in our sport.

“The Solheim Cup was an unfortunate thing. What Suzann did was correct in ‘The Rules of Golf’, but in the spirit of the game, it was wrong. And she admitted that on the Monday with hindsight. Hindsight is always a wonderful thing.

“In the Ryder Cup, we are always briefed by the referees earlier in the week and the rules officials, and we do not touch a golf ball until we hear either from our opposite number or from the referees, just one of those things. I hope and I’m sure it won’t happen under our watch.”

Love agreed that sportsmanship would be key.

He said: “Darren and I will set the tone with our teams, and with our messaging over the next year, what we expect and how we expect the matches to be played.

“Something will come up during the three days that is uncomfortable. But we’ll handle it as gentlemen and a sportsmanlike way. It will be fair and competitive and fun.

“In the end, one of us will win, one of us will lose, but we’ll enjoy a cigar and a tear afterwards on Sunday night.”

Love said he was “reluctantly” facing the fact he would not be a playing captain, and expressed his hope that Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson could be back in contention.

He added: “Tiger has had some surgeries and that’s slowing him down a little bit.

“I have a feeling Phil’s going to be strongly motivated to make the next team, and obviously Tiger wants to get healthy and play. They are just two of a lot of players that have stressed to me that they want to play on a winning Ryder Cup team.”

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The Making of a Captain

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Darren Clarke is steeped in Ryder Cup history and a specially commissioned half hour documentary – produced by European Tour Productions and shown on Sky Sports this week – looks not only at that aspect, but also goes behind the scenes to capture the man behind the headlines.

‘Darren Clarke – The Making of a Captain’ – looks back on his five Ryder Cup appearances as a player and two as vice-captain, and also spends time with the 2011 Open Champion at his home in Portrush as well as garnering the thoughts of the people closest to him as to what makes the 46 year old the man he is today.

At times poignant, at times funny, the documentary – which gets its first airing on Thursday at 1.00pm on Sky Sports 4 – explains why the 14 time European Tour champion feels the captaincy is the highest honour which could be bestowed on him by his Tour peers, and also how he feels about going up against his good friend, Davis Love III in Minnesota.

Speaking to the media ahead of this week's US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, Clarke said the anticipation was growing ahead of the impending start of the Ryder Cup Points Race but that he would be focusing on his own game for now.

"First week in September when the Points Race starts, I'll start playing very close attention to what's going on," said Clarke. "But at the moment I still want to try to play the best I can myself. But that will change as soon as the points start. I'll be more into how the team is shaping up and what's going on.

"But we have a big date coming up the end of the September, where Davis and I are at Hazeltine, we'll have a lot of stuff to do there. I know the European Tour have been out to Hazeltine looking at things. But Davis has the first choice on team rooms, hotel rooms, and rightly so, he's the home captain. But when I get there, I'll have the opportunity to look at things and make some more choices then.

"But certainly there's a lot of things that go on behind the scenes. But in terms of my first and foremost role is to try and do whatever I can to enable the European Tour to have the strongest team possible. My interest is more in the players. We've got a wonderful backroom team in the European Tour looking after the Ryder Cup. I trust those guys implicitly with their decisions that they make. They involve me in them, but I trust them enough that they will make the right decisions for me. My interest is more on what the players are doing, and what their plans are."

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McDowell Seeks French Treble

Graeme McDowell will begin his quest for a hat-trick of Alstom Open de France titles alongside Ryder Cup team-mate Lee Westwood and rising French star Alexander Levy when the €3million tournament begins on Thursday.

The Northern Irishman, the champion at Le Golf National for the past two years, tees off from the tenth at 13.20 local time, one group behind the widely-tipped Francesco Molinari, two-time winner this season Anirban Lahiri and young Frenchman Gary Stal.

The marquee group in the morning has a Ryder Cup flavour, with Martin Kaymer, who won here in 2009, alongside his 2014 team-mates Victor Dubuisson and Jamie Donaldson at 8.30 from the tenth.

One group ahead of them is Englishman Danny Willett, currently second in The Race to Dubai, Austrian Bernd Wiesberger and France’s Julien Quesne, while the last player to win the event before McDowell, Germany’s Marcel Siem, has Italian Matteo Manassero and Sweden’s Kristoffer Broberg for company at 13.50 from the tenth tee.

European Ryder Cup Captain Darren Clarke begins his campaign with Denmark’s Thorbjørn Olesen and up-and-coming Englishman Eddie Pepperell at 7.50 from the tenth, while behind them is another home favourite in Grégory Havret alongside Scots Stephen Gallacher and Marc Warren.

A total of 29 French players will be attempting to become the first home player since Thomas Levet in 2011 to win the Alstom Open de France, including Raphaël Jacquelin, who begins from the tenth in the company of in-form Englishmen James Morrison and Chris Wood.

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