Padraig Portrush Chip Wins Award

A superb chip from Padraig Harrington during the Irish Open at Royal Portrush has been voted by fans from My European Tour as Shot of the Month for June.

Harrington’s perfect pitch came on the 433-yard par four 8th hole of the famous Dunluce Links, his penultimate hole in the championship’s opening round, prompting rapturous applause from the sell-out crowd attending the first European Tour event in Northern Ireland for almost 60 years.

Having found deep rough on the right hand side of the fairway around 40 yards from the green, the three-time Major Champion managed to gouge out a quite miraculous chip that landed on the front edge of the green before rolling smoothly into the centre of the cup for an unlikely birdie three.

That shot helped Harrington to a five under par 67 and a share of ninth place following the opening 18 holes, before eventually finishing the tournament in a tie for seventh place behind Jamie Donaldson.

“It was a nice shot,” Harrington commented afterwards. “I hadn’t really gotten myself in trouble all day, but I fortunately hit a nice chip, played it exactly as I wanted and I was obviously very happy to hole out!”

The Irishman’s brilliant Portrush moment claimed almost half of the of the public vote, holding off England’s Danny Willett, who polled 25 per cent of the vote with the incredible three iron approach to the 18th at Gut Lärchenhof which spurred him onto victory at the BMW International Open, and further entries from Lee Westwood, Jamie Donaldson, Mikael Lundberg and Marcel Siem. One lucky fan who picked Harrington’s June Shot of the Month will receive this month’s prize of an Irish Open holdall.

The shot is the sixth to go forward to the 2012 Shot of the Year competition, following Sergio Garcia (January), Martin Kaymer (February), Paul Casey (March), Louis Oosthuizen (April) and Luke Donald (May).

Evergreen Sophie at Killeen Castle

Some things may lose their lustre over time, but for Sweden’s Sophie Gustafson, competing each week on the LPGA Tour is as exciting as ever.

While the 14-year veteran and five-time LPGA tournament winner isn’t exactly fond of traveling after all these years, the thrill of the competition and camaraderie among Tour players still revs her engines.

“Traveling is getting a bit old, especially since we fly pretty much everywhere nowadays,” said Gustafson, who has more than $6.1 million in career earnings. “There is nowhere really we can drive from tournament to tournament. Airports I can do without, even though they feel like a second home.

“It’s the competition I love. It can be a bet over a beer with my brother or a putt to win Solheim, it’s all fun. It’s just a different kind of pressure.”

Gustafson was technically an LPGA rookie in 1998, but had her first full season on Tour in 1999. A force for years on the Ladies European Tour before joining the LPGA, she won her first LPGA event in 2000 and added another win later that year.

Through the years, Gustafson has won three more times, competed in eight Solheim Cups for Team Europe and racked up 56 top-10 finishes. She finds it amazing that next year will already be her 15th on Tour.

“It’s hard to believe,” Gustafson said. “I just flew to Evian, and I realized it’s my 17th Evian in a row. That’s almost harder to believe. But you know what, when time flies, it’s a sign that you are having fun, and fun I’ve had.”

Gustafson is as motivated as ever in 2012. Despite making 11 of 15 cuts and recording four top-20 finishes, she is not satisfied with her level of play this season.

“To be honest with you, I’m very disappointed with my 2012 season,” said Gustafson, who is 55th in the Rolex Women’s Golf World Rankings. “I feel I’ve played pretty solid, but haven’t managed to get anything going. I’m hoping the second part (of the season) will be a little more flow too. My goal for the rest of the season is to get back into the top 30 in the Rolex World Rankings.”

The 5-foot-10 Swede proved she was still a force to be reckoned with at last year’s Solheim Cup in Ireland, posting a 4-0-0 record to help the Europeans take back the Cup with a 15-13 victory. The win was a great thrill for the affable European, who enjoyed the experience immensely.

“It was special,” she said. “I’ve always had a fantastic relationship with Ireland and the Irish people. I was so excited to be able to play Solheim in Ireland. It was like I had a second gear all week. Nothing was going to take what I so desperately wanted from me.”

She is once again in position to play on Team Europe at the 2013 Solheim Cup at Colorado Golf Club in Parker, Colo., and Gustafson will relish the opportunity to compete in one of golf’s preeminent events.

“Solheim is special, not just to me, but to everyone who ever plays or has played in it,” said Gustafson, who has a 13-12-6 career Solheim Cup record. “It’s about pride, passion and playing for your continent. It doesn’t get much better then that.

“We know we have an uphill climb in Parker next year, but I feel it’s our time. It will most likely be my last on foreign soil, and believe me, I’ll give everything and then some to finally hoist that cup on U.S. soil.”

As far as the rest of Gustafson’s career goes, she doesn’t have specifics in mind about how long she’d like to keep playing or what she’d like to accomplish. She is just enjoying being a member of the Tour.

“I’ll keep playing until I don’t think it’s fun anymore or until my body gives up,” she said. “I’ve been very fortunate not to have had any serious injuries. Hopefully, that can continue and I can finish my career on my terms. I’m thinking I’ll still play a couple of years on the LET after my LPGA days are over.”

And when it comes to Gustafson’s passions off the course, it’s all about music.

“I love listening to music,” she said. “I love hearing new music and trying to figure out what the song is all about. Bruce (Springsteen) has always been my favourite.

“I saw him (recently) in Oslo, and I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face for days. It’s quite remarkable to see someone like that, who shows such passion for what he does, especially after doing it for over 40 years. I call it pure passion. If he didn’t have it, it wouldn’t work to kickstart 75,000 people and get everyone’s attention for over three hours. I admire that greatly.”

Courtesy: LPGA

Hoey Earns PGA Championship Chance

Michael Hoey has been invited to play next week's final Major of 2012, the USPGA Championship at Kiawah Island.

Usually, players have to be in the world's top 100 to qualify but Belfast's World No 105, winner of this season's King Hassan II Trophy in Morocco, has been favoured by tournament hosts, the PGA of America.

It will be his PGA Championship debut.

Hoey missed the cut at last month's British Open, his first Major since playing the 2001 Open and 2002 Masters as an amateur.

He will join fellow Irishmen Rory McIlroy, Padraig Harrington, Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke in teeing it up tomorrow week.

Profile - Rebecca Codd

In 2011, Rebecca played in 23 tournaments and recorded a season-best tie for 13th at the Open de Espana Femenino at La Quinta. She earned 31,722.00 euro throughout the season ending 68th on the Money List.

In 2010, her sixth season on the LET, posted four top-10 finishes including a season-best tie for 5th at the Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open in China. Tied for 6th in Austria, tied for 8th in Scotland and tied for 10th in Finland.

In 2009, posted three top-10 finishes, with season best ties for fifth place at both the Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open in China and the Daishin Securities Korean Ladies Masters in Korea.

In 2008, shot career low 63 (-9) R1 of the 2008 Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open, on the way to a season-best tie for 11th.

In 2008, season-best finish was a tie for 7th at the BMW Ladies Italian Open.

In 2006, earned a career best tie for 3rd at the Tenerife Ladies Open.

AMATEUR

Irish Strokeplay Champion 2000 and 2002. Irish Amateur Champion 2002.

Factfile

DOB: 25th April 1981

Place: Adelaide, Australia

Personal: 165cm tall with light brown hair and green eyes. 

Interests include movies, music, sports and supporting Chelsea Football Club

Married Shane Codd, PGA professional and Tour caddie, in January 2010. 

Major Influence: Parents. 

Resides in Carlow, Ireland. 

Represents: Team Ireland Golf

Turned Pro: 1st December 2002

Exemption Status: Top 80 from Exempt Rankings

SEAT Offer Hole in One Prize

SEAT Ireland will offer the prize of a brand new SEAT Leon to any of the competitors who can sink the elusive hole-in-one at the Ladies Irish Open, which is being held at Killeen Castle, Co.Meath this week. 

Not only will SEAT be offering this incredible prize, but they will also be running a test drive programme from the event itself, offering any of the 30,000 expected visitors the opportunity to drive one of six models, including the new Ibiza and the all-new SEAT Mii. This will be the first time that the Irish public will get a chance to drive the all-new Mii, coinciding with its Irish launch that week. 

The SEAT Mii is a stylish new city-car which boasts outstanding safety features and the innovative new SEAT Touch system, an in-car navigation, phone and multimedia interface, which will be free on the car for a limited period. 

Other cars available on the day will include the recently-launched SEAT Ibiza and the Leon. There will also be displays of the SEAT Alhambra and Ibiza ST. 

Commenting on the announcement of SEAT Ireland as official car sponsor for the event, Elizabeth O’Gorman, Marketing Manager for SEAT Ireland said “We are delighted to be involved in what promises to be a great event over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Not only does it mean that visitors to the competition can get to drive some of our latest offerings, but there is of course the added lure of a brand new SEAT Leon to one of the competitors, should they be lucky or skillful enough to be able to land a hole-in-one!”

McGeady in Rowallan Castle Chase

Scotland’s Duncan Stewart holds a one-shot lead over Irishman Michael McGeady and fellow Scot James Byrne after shooting a five-under-par opening round in the Eagle Orchid Scottish Masters at Rowallan Castle in Ayrshire.

James Robinson is a further shot behind leader Stewart and Billy Fowles (Wentworth) and Scott Fallon (Lightning Packaging Supplies Ltd) are tied for fifth on two under par in the 888poker.com PGA EuroPro Tour event.

Stewart (Grantown on Spey) opened with three pars and made his first birdies with a three at the fourth and a two at the eighth. On the back nine a birdie three at 12 began a run of three consecutive par breakers.

He made four at 13 and three at 14 to take his score to five under and concluded with four pars to sign for a 66.

Five birdies on his back nine saw McGeady (McCambridge Duffy) to four under par in his opening round. Beginning at the ninth tee, he made bogey at 15 and turned home above par.

He levelled his round with a birdie two at the second and dropped below par with a three at four. Three further birdies followed, at five, six and seven, to see the Irishman sign for a 67.

Scotsman James Byrne (IMG) shares second with McGeady. Starting on the ninth tee, Byrne opened with a birdie four and gained another shot with a three at 14.

Coming in he made a third birdie with a two at the second and moved to four under par with a three at the fourth. He completed the remainder of his round to par to return to the clubhouse and sign for 67.

Before the afternoon groups had returned it was James Robinson (Southport & Ainsdale) who held the clubhouse lead. He signed for a three-under-par 68 which included birdies at the first, seventh, ninth and 17th. A bogey five at the sixth was the only blot on the 24-year-old’s card.

Spectator entry is free throughout the 54-hole strokeplay event. A cut to the top 50 players plus ties will be made after Thursday’s second round.