The Irish Golf Club Gazette: Thorbjørn Olesen

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4/11/2016

Lowry Joins Love III and Louis Oosthuizen

Shane Lowry

Shane Lowry ended a disappointing week on a thrilling note with a hole-in-one in the final round of the Masters at Augusta National on Sunday.

Lowry holed out with an eight iron on the 16th in a final-round 75, his tee shot landing in the perfect spot to the right of the hole and trickling down the slope into the cup.

"It was amazing to have a hole-in-one on 16 around here in the final round," Lowry said. "I just wish I would have been able to come up with more birdies, but it was a perfect shot.

"I just hit it in right of the hole and (the slope) just took it down and in. I feel pretty lucky to have a hole-in-one around this place, in this tournament. It's nice. I'm sure I'll get a picture somewhere and frame it in the house and it will be a nice memento to have."

After picking the ball out of the hole, Lowry motioned as if he was going to throw it into the crowd, but added: "No, I wasn't giving the ball away. My last hole-in-one in competition my parents were there as well in Dubai and I still have the ball from that. So I feel like I'll keep that one."

Lowry was just two shots off the lead after an opening 68, but fell out of contention with a 76 on Friday and struggled to a 79 in Saturday's third round.

"Yesterday it was just a tough day and I just let it get away from me," added the 29-year-old. "Friday didn't go too well obviously either. I feel like my game wasn't there, I didn't hole enough putts. I made a few bad decisions.

"I feel like I could have done a lot better and I'm a bit disappointed with the week as a whole. When I sit back and look at it, this week will definitely help me in the future. So I've got to look at it that way.

"There's a lot of good positives to take out of it. I feel like my iron play was quite good for most of the week, just a few bad breaks here and there the last couple of days and I feel like I could have been a little bit closer to the lead, but that's the way major golf is and that's the way this course is.

"Every week you play a major, especially the Masters, is a learning curve and I learned a lot this week and I'm sure I'll take it with me in the future."

4/07/2016

Veteran McCluskey Caddies for GMAC

GMAC and Kevn McCluskey

US Army veteran Kevin McCluskey caddies for Graeme McDowell in the Par 3 event at the Masters eight years after having both legs blown off in Afghanistan and also losing all sight in his right eye.

McCluskey, who is from Philadelphia and served with the 101 Airborne Division in Afghanistan, said that he had been left "speechless" by McDowell's offer.

2010 US Open champion McDowell, whose two-under-par total left him six behind winner Jimmy Walker in the Par Three event, said that McCluskey's battles "puts life and golf in perspective".

"I hit a roadside bomb. I lost both my legs. One above the knee and one below the knee. I have a fake hip and a fake pelvis," said the US Army veteran.

"I lost a lot of motion in my wrist but I'm getting it back to normal now.

"I had shrapnel go through my face so I'm blind in my right eye but other than that I'm good. My mind is good.

"I've a beautiful family, a beautiful wife and many friends at home. Everybody has just helped me get back to where I need to be."

Player Sparked McIlroy Improved Fitness

Rory McIlroy - Getty Images

Nine-time major winner Gary Player has revealed he sparked Rory McIlroy's improved fitness by telling the Northern Irishman he was carrying too much weight.

World No 3 McIlroy, bidding to complete a career grand slam by claiming a first Masters title this week, has said he tries to follow the "fine example" set by the 80-year-old South African, who is a pioneer of diet, health and fitness.

Player did not mince his words when advising the Ryder Cup star a few years ago.

He told McIlroy, according to the Daily Mail: "You need to get fit Rory, look at that weight you're carrying. You need to strengthen your core."

McIlroy was then invited by Player to punch him in the stomach, and was shocked when - after a couple of tentative attempts - he landed a harder blow on the veteran, admitting: "It's like punching a wall. You're right, I do need to get fitter."

Player expects the 26-year-old's new gym-honed physique to serve him well in his future career.

3/25/2016

McIlroy All Smylie After Second Austin Win

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Rory McIlroy, if not exactly firing on all cylinders, made it two wins from two matches in his defence of the WGC-Dell Matchplay championship with a 3 and 1 victory over American Smylie Kaufman in the second day of group play.

As McIlroy marched on in pursuit of back-to-back wins in the championship, with a final group match against Kevin Na set to decide who progresses, there was only disappointment for Shane Lowry, who went from a position of strength in his match with Australian Marcus Fraser, three up at the turn, to collapse on the back nine and end up with only a halved match that ended any chance of progression into the knockout phase.

“Is there any point me coming down?” Lowry enquired forlornly to his caddie Dermot Byrne after hitting his tee-shot on the Par 3 17th into the hazard.

There wasn’t, the ball was never found, and despite Byrne’s best efforts, the ball was never found and that poor tee shot in effect – leading to a bogey on that hole for the second day in a row – ended Lowry’s hopes in the championship a day early. His final group match against Zach Johnson will be purely a matter of pride.

Lowry had started like a train – a birdie-birdie start giving him a two hole lead – and he turned three up and seemingly in total control only to lose the 10th and 11th to birdies and the match was back to all-square after Fraser holed from off the green on the 14th.

For McIlroy, there was again a doggedness about how he went about his business in his pursuit of defending the title. Just as his opening group match with Thorbjorn Olesen swung his way late on, he benefitted from the travails of his opponent, Kaufman, who hit one water ball after another on the homeward run.

McIlroy was one up through the turn but lost the 10th and 11th in what appeared to be a momentum- changer to go one down. He didn’t need to produce any heroics of his own, however, to regain the initiative as Kaufman was twice in the water on the 13th and again found water on the 14th for McIlroy to go all-square and then move one up.

Kaufman’s woes were evident again on the 17th, where a pulled tee shot into the same territory as Lowry ahead of him had found resulted in a concession of the hole and the match to McIlroy. The Northern Irishman will complete his group stage against Kevin Na in a winner-takes-all conclusion to see who advances to the last 16.

“It was nice not to go down the last but then it was a little scary at the start of the match, but I’m happy Smylie did concede there at 17 and I move,” said McIlroy, adding: “I certainly feel now after these two days that the longer the match goes on the better my chances are . . . the pleasing thing over the last couple of days is that when I needed to play some of my best golf, I have been able to do that.”

McIlroy made it two wins from two, as did Patrick Reed with a comprehensive 4 and 3 win over England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick to set up a showdown with Phil Mickelson.

Jordan Spieth also made it two wins from two with a 5 and 4 win over Victor Dubuisson.

Graeme McDowell’s involvement came to an early end, as he halved his match with England’s Paul Casey.

Jason Day, who suffered a back injury in defeating McDowell on Wednesday, received intensive physiotherapy to enable him to play and confirmed his well being with a 5 and 3 win over Thonghai Jaidee that has the Australian set to move on to the knockout phase.

7/10/2015

Lowry and McDowell in Chase

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Shane Lowry was one of five players to set the early clubhouse target in the second round of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open on Friday, with defending champion Justin Rose and Graeme McDowell as in the group. All three strokes of leader Daniel Brooks.

Lowry followed up on Thursday’s 66 replicating his impressive first round to leave him at eight under par overall. He is joined by Rose, Johan Carlsson, Grégory Havret and McDowell.

Lowry was quick out of the blocks with two birdies from his opening five holes, before three further birdies on the back nine were marred by a bogey on the 15th.

Carlsson was in the first group out at 6:30am and carded four birdies and one bogey to add a 67 to his opening 65 in damp conditions to finish eight under par.

However, Rose had also improved to eight under with nine holes to play thanks to a front nine of 31, the former US Open champion looking to become the first player to successfully defend the Scottish Open following his win at Royal Aberdeen 12 months ago.

Rose bogeyed the opening hole but two-putted the par-five second for birdie and then carded four more in the space of five holes from the fourth.

Playing partner Phil Mickelson, who won the 2013 Open a mile down the road at Muirfield, could only manage one birdie on the front nine to lie two under, one shot inside the projected cut after 77 players broke par on Thursday.

The best scoring of the day so far was coming from Chile’s Felipe Aguilar, who began the day in 140th place after struggling to an opening 73, but jumped up the leaderboard in style with birdies at the first and second before firing a hole-in-one on the third, holing from 170 yards with an eight iron.

The 40-year-old has a habit of brilliant bursts of scoring, winning his second European Tour title in Singapore last year with a final round of 62 at Laguna National, holing his second shot to the 18th to complete the back nine in just 28 shots.

And after carding what would prove to be his only par on the front nine today on the fourth, Aguilar followed it with three birdies and two bogeys for an eventful front nine of 30.

Aguilar could not repeat such fireworks on the back nine but did birdie the 14th to move to six under for the day and three under overall.

Rose found trouble off the tee on the 10th but produced a superb pitch from 55 yards to within inches of the hole to save par and remain tied for the lead, along with fellow English man Brooks, who had eagled the second.

In contrast, Mickelson bogeyed the 11th and 12th after finding sand off the tee on both occasions and, at level par, was facing an uphill battle to make the halfway cut.

Lowry had no such worries, the links specialist going to the turn in 33 and picking up another shot on the 11th to get within a shot of the lead on seven under.

Mickelson produced the ideal response with birdies on the 14th, 15th and 16th, the latter coming thanks a typically deft chip from the side of the green.

That took the five-time major winner to three under par and safely inside the cut line, while playing partner Rose remained eight under and appeared shaken by hitting an elderly spectator on the head with a wayward drive on the 16th.

MIchael Hoey fired a second round 65 to share 24th place ahead of the weekend.

Padraig Harrington was 34th after second round 68.

Damien McGrane and Paul McGinley missed the cut

11/09/2014

Cold Sunday Putter Costs McDowell

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Graeme McDowell led the WGD-HSBC Champions since an opening 67 on Thursday but struggled to a closing 73 at Sheshan International to finish joint third alongside Hiroshi Iwata and Rickie Fowler.

"To be brutally honest, I didn't have my 'A' game all week," McDowell said. "And the golf course just got so difficult this weekend. The pins were evil at times and you really had to be on your iron play to have a chance to access them and I didn't play well enough, simple as that.

"The putter that was so hot early in the week kind of cooled off this weekend, but to finish tied third in this type of field, not playing my best, I have to count myself fairly fortunate.

"To finish third in the style I did, I'm disappointed. To finish third playing the way I did, I'm pretty happy."

But it was two moments of magic on Sheshan International’s 18th hole saw Bubba Watson win the WGC-HSBC Champions after a play-off with Tim Clark on a dramatic final day in Shanghai.

Watson was two shots clear with three holes to play, only to bogey the 16th and run up a double bogey on the 17th after failing to escape a greenside bunker at the first attempt.

That dropped the Masters Tournament champion one shot behind playing partners Clark and Rickie Fowler, as well as the final group of Graeme McDowell, Hiroshi Iwata and Martin Kaymer.

Clark looked in pole position when he hit his third shot to the par five 18th to four feet and saw Fowler find the water and Watson a greenside bunker.

However, Watson then amazingly holed his bunker shot for an eagle and Clark's birdie was only good enough to leave the pair tied on 11 under, with the final group needing to birdie the last to join the play-off.

Kaymer's chances disappeared when his approach flew over the green into the water, while McDowell and Iwata missed from 18 and 12 feet respectively.

Clark and Watson returned to the 18th for the play-off and Watson found the same greenside bunker with his second shot after Clarke had hit his third to around 20 feet.

Watson was unable to repeat his heroics from the sand but after Clark had left his birdie attempt short, the left-hander holed his birdie putt to seal victory.

"For me this is the big one," Watson said after his third win in 2014. "It's very big because I always wanted to win outside the US. It's my seventh win, gets me closer to ten wins which has always been my goal. It's a World Golf Championship, so when you add it all up it means a lot."

Speaking about the 72nd hole, the 36 year old added: "It was such a tough bunker shot you are not really thinking about making it, but I told my caddie it's been a wild day, a wild couple of holes, but if we can make this it changes everything and it went in like a putt. Clark was like 'Why would you do that?!'

"In the play-off, it was funny because the bunker shot I holed was on the same line (as the putt) so we knew the line, we knew it was fast. I was trying to two-putt and it just fell in."

Clark was left to rue missing a short birdie putt on the 16th but the South African said: "I never expected to be in this position at the start of the week. I fought hard. I knew I needed to birdie that play-off hole, especially with him (Watson) being able to reach.

US Open Champion Kaymer also tried to look at the positives despite the double bogey on the 18th which dropped him into a tie for sixth with Ryder Cup team-mate Ian Poulter and Denmark's Thorbjørn Olesen.

"It was just unfortunate with 18," said Kaymer, who won the title in 2011. "Thought I had a good yardage. I thought it was a perfect yardage with a hurting wind, but it came off very, very hot.

"But I take a lot of positives out of that week. It was a good week. I played really well and I have another two or three big tournaments to go."

Shane Lowry finished in share of 34th place despite a difficult start on Thursday with a round of 78. As the WGC event in China did not have a cut the Clara golfer carded further rounds of 68, 74 and 69.

No doubt his cheque for €77,000 easing the pain somewhat of the opening day and helps close in on a top 50 world ranking spot.

Currently 51st Lowry knows the benefits of the getting into the world's top golfers with the first reward a trip to Augusta for the the first major of the season.

He now travels to the Turkish Airlines Open and then the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

10/25/2014

Phelan Faces Homage at PGA Catatunya

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Kevin Phelan signed for a third round, level par 72, and at the ISPS HANDA Perth International and trails leader Thorbjørn Olesen by 13 shots. The Waterford golfer needed to finish in the top four to save his card on the European Tour, a rsult that now looks unliley.

At the tope opf the leaderboiard 24 year old Dane had spoken yesterday of his belief that a second European Tour title was overdue, and set about fulfilling that prophecy with three birdies in his first four holes at Lake Karrinyup Country Club.

Further gains followed at the 11th, 12th and 14th, before the former Sicilian Open winner dropped his only shot of the day at the 15th.

That led to a five under par 67 and a 16 under par total, three ahead of nearest challenger Sihwan Kim.

Kim is looking to make it consecutive Korean wins in Perth following Jin Jeong’s triumph 12 months ago, and is playing under the added pressure of fighting to keep his European Tour card.

Only the top 111 players on The Race to Dubai at close of play tomorrow will retain their playing privileges for next season, and at 138th in the current standings the Challenge Tour graduate needs a top-two finish.

The same is true for overnight leader Peter Whiteford, who started the week 149th, but despite birdieing the first hole the Scot could only manage a 75 which left him seven shots back.

James Morrison followed yesterday’s course record 63 with a 69 to move into third on 12 under, with America’s Peter Uihlein a shot further back after a round of 65.

The man in the firing line for those trying to keep their cards, 111th-ranked Matthew Nixon, eased his fears of a return to Qualifying School as a round of 69 took him to six under.

His nearest pursuers to make the cut, 116 David Drysdale and 117 Carlos del Moral, shot rounds of 71 and 69 respectively and lie tied fifth and tied 33rd – both need at least top-16 finishes.

3/28/2014

Europe Battle Asia Rally

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Asia battled back from a disastrous first day at the inaugural EurAsia Cup - but Europe still remain firmly on course for victory in Kuala Lumpur.

After being whitewashed 5-0 in Thursday's fourballs, Thongchai Jaidee's side secured three points from Friday's foursomes to leave the score at 7-3.

Prayad Marksaeng and Kim Hyung-sung got the better of Thomas Bjorn and Thorbjorn Olesen 4&3 while Anirban Lahiri and Siddikur Rahman defeated Joost Luiten and Victor Dubuisson by one hole.

It seemed there would be another victory for the hosts when Jaidee and Kiradech Aphibarnrat led going down the last, only for Europe captain Miguel Angel Jimenez to deny them in stunning fashion.

The 50-year-old, who made two eagles at Glenmarie Golf and Country Club for the second day running, produced a superb approach to the 18th green to set up fellow Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal for a birdie to snatch a half.

That meant the spoils were deservedly shared in a high-quality contest. Jimenez had holed a bunker shot on the third for an eagle and then a putt from 30ft on the 11th for another, although that effort was only good enough for a half.

Missed chance

Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Stephen Gallacher also halved their match with Koumei Oda and Hideto Tanihara, although the duo missed a birdie chance on the last to win.

"We managed to half a couple of matches and win another one. It was a tough day in the heat and Asia played very well today."

Gallacher missed from 12 feet on the 18th to snatch victory after he and his Spanish playing partner had let slip a three-hole lead from the 10th onwards. They lost lost four of the next five but levelled matters at the 17th hole.

Europe's only winners were Graeme McDowell and Jamie Donaldson, who came from behind for the second match running to beat Gaganjeet Bhullar and Nicholas Fung 2&1.

For the second successive day McDowell and Donaldson had to recover from an early deficit, though they were rather gifted a number of holes after finding themselves two down just before the turn.

"At the end of the day I am happy," Jimenez said. "We managed to half a couple of matches and win another one. It was a tough day in the heat and Asia played very well today.

"At one point it looked like it was going to be the opposite of yesterday but we managed to get the points and 7-3 is a good lead for tomorrow."

Europe now need just three-and-a-half points from Saturday's 10 singles matches to secure overall victory.

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