The Irish Golf Club Gazette: 10/17/13

10/17/2013

McIlroy Quotes Korea Open - R1

OneAsia

Rory McIlroy spoke on Thursday after the first round of the Kolon Korea Open at Woo Jeong Hills Country Club:

Q: A flying finish, you must be pleased.

A: Yeah, it was a good finish especially after making double bogey on 13. To finish the last five holes at three under was very nice. It was tough, some of the pin positions out there today were brutal, just cut on slopes and very hard to get close to them and when you did get close to them you left yourself very tricky putts. It was hard to shoot a low score out there today. I felt I was a little rusty after the four weeks off but I battled back nicely and to end up under par for the day wasn't too bad.

Q: I'm sure you don't want to dwell on the negative, but talk us through the double bogey

A: I just wasn't very comfortable with the tee shot. I took a long time to get settled over it and then just didn't make a very good swing. But as I said, I came back well after that and played the last five holes very strongly.

Q: Despite the notorious pin positions, you've hit a 64 out here, in the final round last time out. Do you have that in you again?

A: Definitely. It's one of those courses where you've got generous greens so if you hit a lot of greens and get your putter going you can definitely shoot low.

Q: And tomorrow, will you be aggressive?

A: It all depends where they put the pins again. You definitely don't want to miss them on the wrong side. You don't want to short side yourself. There's not many low scores out there … if I plot my way along and pick up a few birdies here and there I won't be too far away.

Farr Ahead of McGeady

PGA EuroPro Tour

Michael McGeady battled into second place midway through the front nine in the final round of the 888poker.com PGA EuroProTour Championship on Thursday to make the turn two under and in contention.

Having started out the day in the second last group, and in a share of second place, the chance then slipped as successive bogeys on thirteen and fourteen - with no more birdies on the run for home - left the Irish PGA Champion level par for the day.

McGeady finished in a share of seventh and a total of five strokes off the winner on -8.

Oliver Farr won the PGA EuroPro Tour Championship and the 2013 season Order of Merit, after finishing 13 under par for his 54 holes at Prince’s Golf Club.

Daniel Gavins was one behind in second place, which also confirmed his position as runner-up on the tour rankings. Paul Reed and James Watts finished the tournament tied for third on ten under par.

The top five on the Order of Merit are awarded Challenge Tour cards for 2014.

George Woolgar, who was guaranteed a top-five finish before Tour Championship, came third with Dave Coupland and Paul McKechnie also progressing to Europe’s second-tier Tour.

Farr (Worcester Golf & Country Club) shot a final-round 67, five under, to beat overnight leader Gavins (De Vere Oulton Hall) by one and in doing so also claimed the Order of Merit title.

“The last two days I have really controlled the ball well and put some great scores in,” said Farr. “It was nice to do that under a lot of pressure. I wasn’t quite sure of my Challenge Tour card for next year but it is brilliant to get it.

“The Challenge Tour card only really occurred to me on the 18th. I was focusing on the last round. I came here this week to just play this tournament as it is and I did that. It only really came into my mind on the 18th tee, then I thought I could win the Order of Merit.

“Playing on the Challenge Tour is something to really, really look forward to. I have played some Challenge Tour events this year and I feel comfortable on there. There is a little step up but I will prepare myself and get some good practice in over the winter to get ready for next year.”

The Welshman led for much of the back nine after shooting five birdies on the first 11 holes. A birdie for Gavins on the last left Farr with a short but nervy putt for victory, which he calmly made to collect a winner’s cheque of £15,000 and a brand new Motocaddy S3 Pro.

Richard Wallis finished sixth on the 888poker.com PGA EuroPro Tour Order of Merit, missing out on the top five by just £69.17. However, if any of the top five earn a Challenge or European Tour card via the European Tour Qualifying School, he will receive their satellite tour graduate category.

Marcus Armitage collected the Rookie Of The Year trophy after finishing ninth on the Order of Merit.

Ruairdhri McGee finished one stroke adrift of McGeady after a final round 74.

Colm Moriarty signed for a successive third round 70 to end the week T25.

Tim Rice carded a final round 69 but found himself in 33rd place following a second 76 on Wednesday.

Paul Cutler, the 2011 Walker Cup player was 38th after rounds of 73-70-70.

McGee and Moriarty will get another chance at a European Tour card during Stage Two of Qualifying School next month in Spain.

Rusty Rory Opens in Korea

OneAsia

Rory McIlroy produced a strong finish to card a round of 70 on the opening day of the Kolon Korean Open at Woo Jeong Hills Country Club.

The former world No 1 is trying to rediscover some form at the OneAsia Tour event having managed just one top-five result all season.

McIlroy made a solid enough start on the first day, recording a birdie and a bogey as he covered the front nine in a level-par 36.

A double-bogey at 13 dropped him down the leaderboard but the Northern Irishman rallied to pick up three shots, birdieing the last two holes to end the day on one-under par in a tie for 12th place.

McIlroy, who was returning to action after a month away from competitive golf, is hoping to go on better than his second-placed finish to Rickie Fowler at the tournament two years ago.

"I just wasn't very comfortable with the tee shot. I took a long time to get settled over it and then just didn't make a very good swing," he said.

But the 24-year-old finished with a flourish, going three under for his next five holes.

"It was tough, some of the pin positions out there today were brutal, just cut on slopes and very hard to get close to them," he said, "and when you did get close to them you left yourself very tricky putts.

"I felt I was a little rusty after the four weeks off, but I battled back nicely and to end up under par for the day wasn't too bad."

Home golfers dominated the top of the standings, with South Korean Ik-jae Jang in the lead after a four-under round of 67 which included an eagle two at the par-four 10th.

Three of the four men tied for second place were also local players, with American Eric Mina the only interloper on three-under. Defending champion Kim Dae-sub was one shot further back.

Scottish veteran Simon Yates ended the day alongside McIlroy on one-under, although his round would have been much better if it were not for consecutive bogeys at nine and 10.

Hedblom Leads Higgins and Lawrie

Getty Images

David Higgins and Peter Lawrie both signed for rounds of 73 on the first day of the ISPS Handa Perth Internationl on Thursday to at least ensure they are inside the projected cut mark, as they both make a last bid to retain their auticmatic European Tour priveleges for next season.

Lawrie needs a 34th place finish - or better - this week to have a chance of making the top 110 players who retain their cards.

David Higgins must finish inside the top 20 on Sunday to avoid a 14th visit to the dreaded Eurpean Tour Q-School.

On the otherhand Peter Hedblom made the perfect start to avoid his 11th trip to Qualifying School by taking a share of the first round lead in Perth.

The 43 year old has three European Tour titles to his name, but is currently 179th in The Race to Dubai with only the top 110 at the end of the week retaining playing privileges for next season.

That means Hedblom needs to win at Lake Karrinyup to avoid a return trip to PGA Catalunya, although having kept his card there last season the World Number 830 is trying not to let the tension take over.

“I'm so far back I need a win or to finish second really,” said Hedblom, who missed seven of his first eight cuts this year but carded six birdies and two bogeys in a four under par 68.

“You have nothing to hold back; you just have to go for everything. You're not happy to finish third or fourth or fifth or sixth or tenth, just play as good as you can.

“The tension is nothing really. Today it felt like any tournament - if I will be leading playing the last day, then maybe I'll feel the tension, but right now it's just one round out of four. It's good to at least have a chance to do it.

“The game is there, you just need a little bit of confidence.”

The Swede’s efforts left him level with Korean Jin Jeong and Australians James Nitties and Clint Rice.

Former Amateur Champion Jeong chipped in at the 18th – his ninth - for an eagle two, but was keen not to get too carried away with his good start.

“It's only the first day and still three rounds to go and plenty of great players out here, so you never know what's going to happen,” said Jeong, who has been playing on The Challenge Tour this season and recently progressed to the second stage of Qualifying School.

“I’ve just got to do what I'm doing and just keep hitting good shots and hopefully that's good enough.”

American Ryder Cup star Dustin Johnson opened with a three under par 69 to be part of an eight-way tie for fifth.

The pre-tournament favourite Johnson was satisfied with his six-birdie round that included a 12 footer on the 15th.

“I played pretty well,” said the seven-time US PGA Tour winner. “I missed a couple short putts, but other than that, I hit it pretty well.”

Another Swede fighting to keep his card, Fredrik Andersson Hed, was also one off the pace, while defending champion Bo Van Pelt opened with a two under par 70.

Michael Hoey also carded an opening round of 73.