Sort of Homecomng for McIlroy

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Rory McIlroy is hoping to celebrate his homecoming at this week’s Irish Open with a return to the top of The Race to Dubai.

The 2012 European Number One had climbed to second in this year’s standings with his BMW PGA Championship victory, but dropped to third last week as Martin Kaymer leapt into second spot with his US Open Championship triumph.

But the Northern Irishman is just €136,293 behind leader Thomas Björn, while there are also enough points on offer for the World Number Six to return to the top five of the Official World Golf Ranking.

However, the two-time Major winner’s main focus is winning his National Open for the first time.

“It's a special week for the Irish guys,” said McIlroy. “We all make an effort no matter where we are playing or where we are to come back and support this event, and it's shaping up to be a good week. 

“The win at Wentworth a few weeks ago was great. The last couple tournaments, Memorial and US Open, there were flashes of good stuff, and I fell away over the weekend at the US Open which was quite disappointing. 

“But I've got a new event - right now I focus on The Irish Open and there's a lot to play for me this week personally. 

“I've got a chance to go to the top of The Race to Dubai and a chance to get back into the top five in the world, so it's not a week I'm taking lightly. I want to come here and put my best foot forward and try to get another win.”

McIlroy’s week got off to a far from ideal start as his club’s went missing in transit across the Atlantic, but the 25 year old was successfully reunited with them earlier on Wednesday.

“They arrived this morning,” he added. “They got in at 7.00 this morning and then got them couriered down here, so reunited with them, which is good. 

“I've been disappointed with my performances in The Irish Open up until this point. I think I've managed a couple of top tens, and that's really been it. 

“It would be good to give myself a chance to win at least and feel like I have a real chance going into the last couple of days. 

“It's important, whether you're Irish or Spanish or French, your home title is always very important to you; it would be great to win it one day.

“We only get a chance to play here once a year competitively. You want to try and use all these things to your advantage if you can, and having the support of the home crowd is definitely a help, especially if you're in contention and you have a chance to win over the weekend.”

 

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GMAC Plans Better Irish Record

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Graeme McDowell would like to write one of his own come Sunday afternoon at this week’s Irish Open at Fota Island Resort.

The historic event showcases the best of Irish golf, and with Rory McIlroy’s decision to represent Ireland at the next Olympics, along with Royal Portrush’s awarding of The Open Championship, there is a special feeling in the air in County Cork, located at the southern tip of Ireland.

“Yeah, it is really set for a great week,” said McDowell. “Like I say, the course is great. If we can get more of this weather, the fans will come out and enjoy the week, and it will be a really amazing showcase for Irish golf in general. So I’m just really excited about the weekend.”

McDowell has achieved a great deal in his career, however winning his home tournament has thus far alluded the World Number 22.

It is something the 34 year old wants to put right, starting on Thursday, when he takes to the course upon which he made his Irish Open debut.

“Of course I’d love to win an Irish Open”, said the 34 year old. “My record is not really great in this tournament, but I’m certainly here to try and put paid to that this week, and this is the type of golf course that I feel like I can win an Irish Open on.”

While the news that McIlroy has announced his intention to represent Ireland at the Rio Olympics caused much excitement at Fota Island Resort , for McDowell it represents a once in a lifetime chance to compete alongside his good friend on one of world sport’s biggest stages.

“To have Rory McIlroy representing Ireland in the Olympic Games is very special,” He said. “I'm glad that he's committed and I'm hoping to be there alongside him. I've played alongside Rory in Ryder Cups and World Cups and things like that, but I really have no concept of what the Olympic Games is going to be like. It’s the biggest sporting event on the planet.”

McDowell is experienced enough to know that his place in both the Ryder Cup and Olympics teams – two events that clearly mean so much to him – is by no means guaranteed.

However, he will be doing all he can to be selected for those showpiece events, starting on Thursday when he attempts to win his first Irish Open.

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Lowry Looking for Irish Repeat

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Shane Lowry has now set his sights on becoming only the third Irishman to win his national Open on more than one occasion.

Lowry turned his season around with a runner-up finish behind fellow Irishman Rory McIlroy in last month’s BMW PGA Championship, a performance which filled the Clara native with confidence ahead of his bid to emulate the feats of his compatriots Christy O’Connor Snr and Harry Bradshaw. 

O’Connor Snr won the Irish Open four times and Bradshaw twice, but no Irishman has achieved the feat since the tournament joined The European Tour International Schedule in 1975. 

Five years on from his amateur dramatics at Baltray, Lowry will go in search of a second victory in the €2million event. 

He said: “I generally don’t like to talk about wining, but I do feel I’m coming here this week to really contend. Someone might shoot a better score than me to pip me and at the end of the day there’s not a lot you can do about that, but I come here with that winning mentality. I really feel like my game is where I want it to be at the minute, and I’m really excited about the next four days.”

Lowry’s excitement is not just caused by his improved performances of late, but also due to the crowds which are expected to pour through the gates at Fota Island Resort, in Ireland’s second city of Cork. 

When the tournament was staged at Portrush in 2012, it became the first sold-out event in European Tour history; and with extended periods of sunshine forecast for the majority of week, Lowry is confident that the Irish golfing public will again show their support. 

He said: “I believe the last time it was played here in 2002, there were around 35,000 people here on the Saturday and I’d say we are expecting pretty similar crowds again, which should make for a great week. The golf course is lovely, and with the weather forecast we have, it’s going to be a fantastic. 

“I’m playing on a golf course that I know quite well, in front of my friends and family. I mean, where else do you want to be in the world? There’s no place I'd rather be this week than playing here.”

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Harrington Open to More Claret

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Padraig Harrington will play alongside Rory McIlroy and Stephen Gallacher in the opening two rounds.

The 43 year old Dubliner memorably added his national Open title in the professional ranks in 2007 and went on to win three Major Championships in the following 18 months, heralding a glorious period in Irish golfing history. He now returns to Fota Island looking to provide yet another chapter in a remarkable career, at a venue where he admits he has many happy memories. 

“It's obviously been a happy hunting ground for me over the years,” said Harrington. “I do like the venue. I like the atmosphere the venue gives off. It's an ideal place for professional golf when you have got a hotel on site, and you have got a beautiful golf course, and you've got a fantastic setting and good practice facilities. There's not much more the players could ask for than you've got here.”

Harrington concedes that having an Irish Open title already under his belt takes some of the pressure off his shoulder this week, and enables him to enjoy the unique focus that naturally falls on him and the other Irish players. 

“I'm not under as much pressure as the other lads who haven't got one,” he said. ”It is important to win your National Open at some stage in your career. It's something you want to tick off for your CV. Obviously Shane (Lowry) has one, so there's two of us with it.

“Early in my career, it was pressure, and a lot of expectation. Then you realise that it's not necessarily expectation. It's more just people who want you to win, and they would like to you win, and they are not trying to put more pressure on you. 

“When you look it like that, it kind of deflects it a little bit and you can relax a little bit more. There's no doubt at an Irish Open for an Irish player, there's more stress around the week. There's more things to be done. There's more people to say hello to, and you've got to stop and say hello to everybody. It just mounts up in the course of a week. 

“So it's one of those events that you just know you're not going to be able to go through your normal routine, and you know things are going to be just slightly out of kilter once you accept that, it's easier to get on with things.”

Having won two Claret Jugs so far in his career, Harrington also welcomed The R&A’s announcement on Monday that Royal Portrush has been added to the rota of Open Championship venues. 

“I'm sure when it does come, it will be one of the greatest Opens ever,” he said. “The people that will turn out and the atmosphere will be second to none. Only St. Andrews maybe could surpass it, because it's the Home of Golf, but I think the raw atmosphere around an event like The Open Championship at Portrush will be unbelievable. Just phenomenal. It would be rare if the players will experience what they will experience when The Open is at Portrush.”

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Captain McGinley Sees Irish Action

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Paul McGinley is enjoying the buzz of playing on home soil this week as he turns his attention back to being inside the ropes at the Irish Open.

McGinley was a satisfied observer at last week’s US Open Championship as Martin Kaymer sealed an impressive second Major Championship, giving European golf another boost ahead of September’s contest at Gleneagles.

With his team steadily taking shape, McGinley will now shift the focus back to his own playing career for four consecutive European Tour tournaments, starting with his national Open at Fota Island Resort, where he won the first of his four Irish PGA Championships in 1997.

With all four of Ireland’s Major Champions – Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy – in the field, McGinley is looking forward to the home crowds coming out to support the Irish Open, which returns to the Cork venue for the first time in 12 years.

“On the back of Martin’s win, it creates a buzz for everybody at this tournament, everybody in the European Tour in the background, and obviously me, Ryder Cup Captain,” he said. “I think some venues are blessed with good weather and Fota Island seems to be blessed. The last time we were here the weather was sensational, as well, and looks like we are going to have a tremendous week too, the way the forecast is.

“It is exciting. There are a lot of exciting players in the field. Obviously Rory is going to get a lot of attention and Graeme, too, with the World Rankings and the way they have been playing and the exciting talent that they are. It's all good and there is a good buzz around the place.”

He added: “I’ve played quite decently this year to be honest, but I haven’t played that much. I think I’ve only played four or five tournaments. So I’m looking forward to playing the next four and getting a run. What I’ve missed is that run of tournaments. I seem to be playing one tournament and then taking a month off before the next one, but now I’ve got four in a row and I’m looking forward to it.”

McGinley also paid tribute to Kaymer’s majestic performance last week, after the German led from start to finish to join McDowell, McIlroy and McDowell as recent European winners of the US Open Championship.

“I was impressed like everybody,” he said. “To lead after the first round, and then to extend his lead to a bigger margin by the time the fourth round came was very impressive, because in my view the US Open is the toughest tournament to win.

“I think it’s a test not just of golf, but of mental skills. There’s a potential calamity on every hole, and it’s easy to make a double or a triple so it’s a real test of mental resilience. 

“I think it’s great for the European team, and great for The European Tour. It certainly creates a buzz around the Tour. I think the fact that Martin has won and he’s a popular guy will give that little bit of extra added incentive to the other guys, too, to maybe match him and win The Open or the US PGA, as well.”

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