The Irish Golf Club Gazette

12/11/2012

Padraig Welcomes Montgomerie Return

European Tour

Padraig Harrington, has welcomed the return of the Irish Open to Carton House next summer.

The three-time Major Champion, enjoying a well-deserved winter break with his family before embarking on his 2013 campaign, took time out ahead of the annual Excellence in Sport Awards ceremony in Dublin to wish the tournament promoters, sponsors and venue good luck for next year’s event to be held from June 27-30.

Harrington, who captured the title in 2007 ahead of his breakthrough Major victory that year in The Open Championship at Carnoustie, is relishing the resumption of world class professional golf in his own backyard after an absence of six years.

Advance tickets for the 2013 tournament, to be played over the par-72 Montgomerie Course at Carton House near Maynooth, Co. Kildare, are now on sale and Harrington is confident that the Irish Open’s return to the greater Dublin area will coincide with a huge demand to see the world’s best players in action.

He said: “I am thrilled that the Irish Open is coming back to Dublin next year. As far as I am concerned it is my "Fifth Major" and whilst I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of playing at Royal Portrush earlier this year, as a Dubliner, it's great to play in my home town and at the same time build on the success of this year's tournament in the North."

Harrington finished tied fifth behind Welshman Stephen Dodd over the Montgomerie Course in 2005 and 11th a year later as Denmark’s Thomas Björn took the title, before triumphing himself at Adare Manor in 2007.

The 2013 tournament will be played on the Montgomerie course. The Mark O'Meara course had been the subject of some recent course improvements, with the addition of a new first and 18th holes, but the Golf Club owners and The European Tour opted for the ‘Monty’ which successfully hosted the European Amateur Championships in August.

Managing Partner Conor Mallaghan commented: "We are in the very fortunate position of having two championship golf courses at Carton House but with the recent construction development of the two new holes on the O'Meara and knowing how unpredictable Irish weather can be we have decided that the Montgomerie course is the sensible option for 2013."

Following the record-breaking Irish Open at Royal Portrush in June, The European Tour is looking forward eagerly to the 2013 edition and the opportunity to recreate the popularity of the event in front of equally huge crowds at Carton House.

Already, in addition to long-time partner and major supporter, Fáilte Ireland, many of the tournament sponsors from 2012 have committed to the 2013 event and Irish Open Commercial Director James Finnigan said: “Fáilte Ireland have played an enormous role in the success of the Irish Open in the past and we are indebted to them for their long-term commitment. We are delighted to confirm that we will again be partnering top quality brands such as, Ballygowan, BMW, Emirates, Heineken, Moy Park, Rolex and Waterford Crystal next year. It all points to a great return to Dublin for the Irish Open.”

It will not only be golf that will be celebrated during the weekend of the Irish Open, thanks to an exciting new initiative between The Curragh racecourse and The European Tour.

As part of the Irish Open ticket campaign, fans of golf and horse racing can enjoy both sports on the same day – Saturday, June 29 – by purchasing a specially priced ‘Irish Double’ ticket to enjoy the third round of the Irish Open and the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby Day for a combined price of €50.

With the Irish Derby being held on the Saturday evening, the cross ticket promotion offers sports enthusiasts a superb day of live sport . Antonia Beggs, the Irish Open Championship Director, said: “We engaged in a successful collaboration with The Curragh during The Ryder Cup in 2006 when a special raceday was held for the wives of the European and United States Teams. Consequently, we got together with The Curragh to try to create an unforgettable sporting weekend combining world class golf and world class horse racing.”

Meanwhile, golf fans can now purchase tickets to what promises to be another thrilling Irish Open at discounted prices before the New Year.

A season ticket for all four days can be bought for €60 before 31st December, a saving of €10 on next year’s pre-tournament prices and €20 on admission at the gate.

Adult day tickets are priced at €25 before 31st December, rising to €30 pre-event and €35 on the gate.

Concessions (60 and over) start at €40 for a season ticket and €15 for any one day tickets if purchased this year. Under-16s accompanied by an adult are admitted free of charge and all car parking is also free.

Reserved grandstand seating can also be purchased immediately for Thursday, Friday and Saturday (€10) and the Sunday (€15) of the event. No concessions of other discounts apply.

Corporate Hospitality packages are also available with prices ranging from €245 to €295 (plus VAT). For all enquiries please contact Joanne in CSL Hospitality on 01 676 6650 or joanne @cslhospitality.ie

Golf Writers Award McIlroy

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World number one Rory McIlroy has been awarded the 2012 Golf Writers' Trophy ahead of Europe's Ryder Cup team.

The 23-year-old Northern Irishman had a spectacular season, winning the USPGA Championship by an eight-shot margin as well as four other tournaments.

McIlroy also emulated England's Luke Donald by topping the money lists on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Ryder Cup side, of which McIlroy was part, came second in the voting, followed by Ian Poulter.

Then came 53-year-old Roger Chapman and the Great Britain and Ireland Curtis Cup team.

"The 2012 season was a superb one for every aspect of European golf and that comes across when you look at the names of the players in contention for the Golf Writers' Trophy," said McIlroy, recently named as the PGA Tour's Player of the Year.

"To come out on top of that list is a great honour."

Poulter was one of the key architects of Europe's magnificent comeback in Chicago, making five birdies in a row to win a vital fourball match alongside McIlroy and finishing the Ryder Cup with four points out of four.

Chapman enjoyed a fairytale season when he won the Senior PGA Championship and the US Senior Open, a double only previously achieved by Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Hale Irwin.

The Curtis Cup victory at Nairn completed an unprecedented clean sweep of all four of the main trans-Atlantic trophies - Ryder, Solheim, Walker and Curtis Cups.

12/04/2012

Watson No Fan of OIympic Golf

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Eight-time major winner Tom Watson believes that golf should not have been reinstated as an Olympic sport.

Golf will form part of the Games at the next Olympics in Rio in 2016, but Watson feels it has no place at an event which he feels is still meant to celebrate the ideal of amateur sport.

Indeed, the American claims that the opportunity to challenge for Olympic gold will only serve to devalue the four major championships.

"I don't want to pour cold water on it but I don't think it should be in the Olympic Games," Watson told reporters ahead of this week's Australian Open in Sydney. "I still think of Olympics as track and field and not golf, to be honest with you.

"We have our most important championships (the four major championships). You have golf in the Olympics, you have diluted the importance, in a sense, of the four major championships.

Mixed emotions

"I probably had a pie in the sky way of looking at the Olympics as being clean and pure.

"I like to trust people and trust they are doing things for the right reasons. When the professionals go to the Olympics, they go for the wrong reasons."

Watson went on to reveal that he did back the recent move to outlaw the anchored putting stroke, but added he did so with "mixed emotions".

"My son Michael, with a conventional putting stroke, he couldn't make it from two feet, but he went to a belly putter and he makes everything," Watson explained. "The game is fun for him now, so there lays the danger. Do we take the ability for people to have fun away?"

But he added: "I thought Ernie Els said it perfectly after he won the Open Championship. He was asked 'why did you go with the long putter Ernie?' And he said 'I'm cheating like the rest of them are'."

Rory Wins 2012 PGA Tour Honour

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Rory McIlroy claimed PGA TOUR Player of the Year honours for 2012, the TOUR announced on Tuesday.

McIlroy and John Huh -- who was named PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year -- were selected via vote by the TOUR's membership for the 2012 season.

PGA TOUR members who played in at least 15 official money events in 2012 were eligible to vote. The balloting process ended on November 30.

"On behalf of the PGA TOUR, my congratulations to Rory and John for their outstanding accomplishments this season," PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem said. "These awards are significant to these players as they are bestowed upon them by their peers, one of highest compliments a player can receive."

McIlroy, 23, becomes the youngest player to earn Player of the Year honors since Tiger Woods in 1998. He receives the Jack Nicklaus Award in recognition of being voted Player of the Year.

McIlroy won four times on the PGA TOUR in 2012, capturing The Honda Classic, PGA Championship, Deutsche Bank Championship and BMW Championship. McIlroy's eight-shot win at the PGA Championship was the largest in tournament history, breaking Nicklaus' record of seven shots in 1980. With six career PGA TOUR victories, McIlroy became the third player since 1960 to win six or more times before the age of 24, joining Woods (15) and Nicklaus (8).

He earned the Arnold Palmer Award as the TOUR's leading official money winner ($8,047,952) and was the runner-up in the FedExCup. He also was the winner of the Byron Nelson Award and Vardon Trophy for adjusted scoring average (68.87). McIlroy recorded a total of 10 top-10 finishes in 16 starts, tied for most on TOUR with Bo Van Pelt.

Following his victory at The Honda Classic in March, McIlroy took over No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking and has held the top position for a total of 24 weeks (currently 17 consecutive) through December 3.

The Northern Ireland native is the third European to earn the Jack Nicklaus Award, joining England's Luke Donald(2011) and Ireland's Padraig Harrington (2008).

McIlroy was selected over Jason Dufner, Brandt Snedeker, Bubba Watson and Tiger Woods.

Huh, 22, was the only rookie to qualify for the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola and just the fifth rookie to qualify for the TOUR Championship since the inception of the FedExCup in 2007. He was also the youngest player to qualify for the TOUR Championship since Sergio Garcia did so at the age of 21 in 2001.

Huh broke through for his first win at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in February, enduring an eight-hole playoff with Robert Allenby. He finished 29th in the FedExCup and 28th on the final official money list ($2,692,113) and totaled four top-10 finishes in 28 starts, including a tie for second at the Valero Texas Open.

Huh, who was born in New York City and currently resides outside Dallas, is the first player of Korean descent to be voted PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year.

Huh was selected over Charlie Beljan, Jonas Blixt, Bud Cauley and Ted Potter, Jr.

12/03/2012

A Sort of Homecoming for McDowell

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Graeme McDowell closed with a 4-under 68 to win the World Challenge presented by Northwestern Mutual by three shots on Sunday, his first title in two years.

The Northern Irishman held off Keegan Bradley with a couple of key short-game shots on the back nine and finished with one last birdie he didn't need.

Bradley, two shots behind with five holes to play, never got any closer. He wound up with a 69.

Woods, the tournament host and defending champion, didn't make birdie until the 13th hole and closed with a 71 to tie for fourth.

It was the 10th time in 12 rounds at Sherwood that McDowell has shot in the 60s, and he extended his dominance on the course that Jack Nicklaus carved out among the foothills of Conejo Valley. In three appearances, McDowell has won twice and was runner-up.

But this one was meaningful in its own right.

"This really caps off my season," McDowell said. "We try not to put winning on a pedestal, but this one feels very sweet because it's been a grind all year."

McDowell won for the first time since he beat Woods in a playoff at Sherwood to close out a dream season in 2010 that included his first major at the U.S. Open and the winning point for Europe at the Ryder Cup.

This win followed a year of frustration. He played in the final group of the U.S. Open and British Open but came up short, and he lost some enthusiasm going into tournaments late in the year. He talked all week about a 10-week break, some of it in Northern Ireland and the rest in Orlando, Florida, where he just built a new house and he's opening a tavern outside the gates of Lake Nona.

It was the perfect way to leave golf for the next few months.

Bradley's birdie on the 13th hole for a two-shot swing brought him within two shots with five holes to play. McDowell never let him get any closer, however. He hit a beautiful lag putt from 75 feet just off the green at No. 14 for an easy par, then hit a chip from behind the 17th green that he was hopeful of getting within 6 feet of the cup. The ball was one turn from falling for birdie.

McDowell made a 6-foot birdie on the 18th to finish on 17-under 271 and earn $1 million against the 18-man field.

And he felt as though he earned it.

A light rain fell for much of the round, as it has all week, making Sherwood play so long that McDowell had to hit a 5-wood into the par-4 fourth hole, and a 4-iron for his third shot in the par-5 fifth. His only bogey over the final 47 holes of the tournament came on the 13th hole.

"Certainly I will draw some confidence from this one," McDowell said. "The game hasn't given me a huge amount this year."

Woods needed a fast start and was stuck in neutral. He failed to birdie the par 5s on the front nine and dropped a shot on the seventh hole when his flop shot below the green came out heavy. He didn't make his first birdie until the par-5 13th.

"I struggled with my game a little bit this week," said Woods, playing for the first time in five weeks. "I just managed myself well to get around in these conditions."

Van Pelt opened with two birdies and tried to hang around in contention on the back nine.

But this was a duel from the start.

McDowell started with a two-shot lead and kept his distance until Bradley holed an 18-foot birdie putt on the fifth. Bradley made back-to-back bogeys at the turn to fall three shots behind, and McDowell stretched his lead to four shots by starting the back nine with two quick birdies.

The par-5 13th then set the stage for a nervous final hour.

McDowell laid up, hit a poor wedge and then three-putted for bogey, ending his streak of 41 consecutive holes at Sherwood at par or better. Bradley made a 6-foot birdie putt for a two-shot swing, and the game was on.

Thanks to some timely putts, McDowell was able to close out his first win of the year. The most important stroke might have been a putt he didn't make. From left of the 14th fairway, he had no choice but to punch it under a tree and run it up to right side of the green. From some 75 feet away, he used his putter to lag it up to inside a foot for a safe par to keep his two-shot lead.

McDowell made a 10-foot on the 16th to match Bradley's tap-in birdie, and then he effectively closed out the former PGA champion with a deft chip from behind the 17th green, where the shot went from rough to the first cut, trickled onto the fringe and rolled out to the edge of the cup.

"My heart was in my mouth for a millisecond," McDowell said.