Ballesteros to Make Majorcan Debut

The late Seve Ballesteros's son Javier is set to make his European Tour debut in next year's Majorca Open

Javier, 21, will take a break from his law studies to play in the event in May as an amateur, it was reported in Thursday's Marca newspaper.

"I have an invitation to play next May in the Majorca Open and I will play, for sure," one-handicapper Javier said.

"Then when I've finished my law degree I would like to give it a shot and turn pro. While I am studying I cannot train a lot. I hit 200 balls every day but I can play only once a week and playing is when you really learn the game."

Following the death of his father in May this year, Javier turned to a new golf teacher.

"My father was always my coach," said Javier. "Now this is not possible any more. Angel Matallana from Pedrena is helping me with my swing at Club Santander."

Jose Maria Olazabal, Europe's 2012 Ryder Cup captain, is delighted that his close friend's son is going to try to follow in his father's footsteps.

"I haven't seen him play for a long time but he's just lived and loved the game since he was tiny," Olazabal said.

"He's gone through so much in the last few years but he's matured very quickly."

World number one Luke Donald played with Javier in the Madrid Masters two weeks ago and said: "I was very impressed with Javier, he is so like his father. I guess the genes have been passed down."

Seve Ballesteros began his European Tour career in the April 1974 Spanish Open. He missed the cut on his debut but went on to claim five majors and 50 European Tour titles.

Trainor Wins Race and Order of Merit

Barrie Trainor pressed the power pedal over the weekend to take the chequered flag in the final lap of the Lexus Race to Mount Juliet in association with PING and Bord Fáilte.

The former Warrenpoint Senior Cup golfer, clocked rounds of 68 and 70 for a six-under-par total of 138 to win by four strokes from Brendan McGovern and, not only win the final Lexus lap, but also snatch the Irish Order of Merit from last year's winner David Higgins.

Trainor collected a cheque for € 4,000 for his weekend 36 holes work which left him on 43,458.75 Order of Merit points and, shooting to the top of the Order of Merit leaderboard, earned him an extra €10,000.

"It certainly has been the best weekend of my life," enthused Barrie, "and at the moment I just don't know where I am. It was a superb way to finish the Lexus Race to Mount Juliet.

"This is my sixth year as a professional and I was getting worried that I would end it without a title. I won the Irish Amateur Championship for the first three years and then for the last two years I won the PGA Ulster Championship.

"Thankfully, this year I have kept the record going of winning a title every year as a pro. I can relax a little now then I'll have to prepare for the Titleis PGA Play-Offs in Turkey next month."

Trainor and McGovern led on four-under-par 68 after Saturday's 18 holes but McGovern dropped to 74 yesterday with Trainor carding 70. He didn't set the tyres on fire until the back nine as he recorded eight opening pars before a birdie three at the ninth hole.

The brakes went on as he bogeyed 11 and 12, missing both greens, but then he slipped into overdrive with three-under-par for holes 13 to 17.

He rifled an eight iron over water to eight feet, at the stroke index one 13th for birdie three and made a two at the next with a six iron to 10 feet.

The winner was short at the long 17th but, from 70 yards, pitched to six feet for birdie four to clinch victory.

Higgins, who finished joint third alongside four others including PGA Cup player Rob Giles, ended second in the Order of Merit to add a bonus of €7,500 while Damian Mooney, tied 16th yesterday, retained his third position in the Merit table and earned a €5,000 bonus.

It was a good weekend for McGovern, too, as he jumped from 33rd position to 17th for the season.

Higgins Defends Mount Juliet Title

David Higgins faces a thrilling 36-hole shoot-out with Barrie Trainor, Damien Mooney and Michael Collins as he bids to hold onto his Lexus Race To Mount Juliet crown.

Waterville stalwart Higgins, impressive winner of last year's inaugural Race to Mount Juliet, is just 578 points clear of Trainor in the Irish Order of Merit as the domestic season comes to a gripping climax over the weekend.

Yet with 10,000 ranking points on offer to the first-place finisher in the €50,000 season finale, Mooney (4,836 points behind) and Collins (9,171 points down) also have a mathematical chance to leapfrog the Kerryman and claim the €10,000 bonus due to the overall winner of the 2011 Race to Mount Juliet.

Proceedings warm up with a €2,500 pro-am.

Golf enthusiasts can also take in the Food and Craft Fair which takes place on the estate this weekend.

Cowen Plans End to Padraig Plummet

Pete Cowen believes he can help his latest pupil Padraig Harrington put his recent woes behind him and return to the top of the game.

Three-time major winner Harrington has plummeted down the world rankings to 78th, from a high of third in 2008.

He turned to Cowen in August, hoping the Englishman could help him improve his swing and once-potent short game.

"With time, he's now capable of getting back to being the best short-game player in the world," said Cowen.

In July, Harrington parted company with his coach of 13 years, Bob Torrance - father of former Ryder Cup captain Sam - after hitting a new low by missing the cut at the Open and Irish Open.

This followed an alarming slump in form since winning the last of his majors, the 2008 US PGA Championship, which resulted in the Dubliner seeking out the advice of Cowen, whose many pupils include world number two Lee Westwood.

Harrington has already shown signs of improvement with an eighth-place finish at the Dunhill Links Championship two weeks ago, which he will be hoping to follow up with a strong showing at this week's Portugal Masters.

"Padraig came and asked me at the Bridgestone [tournament] if I would give an opinion on his swing and what I thought might improve it," said Cowen.

"He thought he was spending far too much time on his long game, to the detriment of his short game. Padraig won two majors in 2008 with the best short game in the world. He felt as though he'd neglected that and when you looked at the stats it proved it. He'd become almost non-competitive.

"He's good at bashing himself on the range and he couldn't understand why he wasn't getting any better.

"Padraig told me he had the wrong feeling with his swing. I then explained how he could get rid of that feeling.

Bob's done a great job because Padraig's won three majors but we all know that it's the short game that makes the difference in the long runPete Cowen

"I just tried to simplify his action. It was complicated and required massive amounts of time. I felt he needed better mechanics which need less time spent on it.

"We've put a lot more stability on his right side on the backswing so he supports the club better, a simple movement which then needs constant repetition. Then he can make the right action on the through-swing. If you load the swing right, you unload it correctly.

"I've given him a training aid for the range that does that while he's swinging. It's a two-thumb grip put on in a certain way on the shaft. He's now more comfortable with his long game and can concentrate more on his short game again.

"Obviously Bob's done a great job because Padraig's won three majors but we all know that it's the short game that makes the difference in the long run."

Hoey Enjoys Dunhill links Win

Michael Hoey is relishing playing in events he could only previously watch on television following his impressive win in the Dunhill Links Championship.

Hoey's two-shot success over fellow Northern Ireland star Rory McIlroy at St Andrews earnt him the winner's cheque for £515,000 and a place in this year's HSBC Champions event and next year's Bridgestone Invitational.

Both of those are World Golf Championship events limited to tournament winners and the top ranked players in the world, somewhere Hoey did not think he would be after six visits to the European Tour qualifying school and struggles which had him wondering if he wanted to keep playing the game.

"I've struggled with my belief," the 32-year-old former British Amateur champion admitted.

"At times I've thought I'm unbelievably good and at times I've felt I just don't have the consistency, which is what it's all about.

"I played in the US Masters in 2002 and then turned pro. I struggled and missed my card at the qualifying school and the next year I was playing on the EuroPro Tour and missing cuts. To go from Augusta to playing not great courses on the EuroPro Tour, it's a big change.

"It's taken a long time (to get to this point) but in a weird way you enjoy it more because you've struggled through six years of qualifying school. It's not nice when you're running out of money and you're confused about your golf swing and away every week travelling.

"It hasn't sunk in yet. Maybe when I'm playing the HSBC event and travelling with the guys next year to the States, maybe I'll think 'I belong, I've earned my way into these events by winning the Dunhill Links'.

"I've watched a lot of golf on TV and always thought if I can play in those events I'd be unbelievably happy. It's a dream come true."

Hoey began the final round three ahead of compatriot Graeme McDowell and five clear of McIlroy, only for McIlroy to card four birdies and an eagle in a brilliant front nine of 30 to move into the lead.

The US Open champion birdied the second and then holed his second shot to the par-four third for an eagle two, his approach pitching past the flag but spinning back into the hole.

Further birdies at the sixth, seventh and ninth took McIlroy top of the leaderboard before Hoey hit back from his second bogey of the day on the seventh with birdies at the eighth and ninth to draw level.

McIlroy pulled ahead again after a superb tee-shot on the par-three 11th finished just two feet from the hole, but that surprisingly proved to be the 22-year-old's last birdie of the day.

Hoey missed from four feet for birdie on the 14th after hitting two drivers to the front of the green - "I felt I was throwing this away at that stage," he admitted - but quickly put that disappointment behind him with birdies on the next two holes from close range to take a lead he would not relinquish.