European Tour - Irish Open

Home, sweet home…! Always looking forward to the Irish Open week, but to have it only half an hour away from home is just great! Unfortunately not having too much time to write about it so will try and keep it short.
 
So, following last year’s very successful trip to the Royal Portrush, this year we’re back to Carton House, just outside Dublin, and the Montgomerie course, who has been host to the Irish Open in 2005 when it was won by Stephen Dodd (play-off with David Howell) and in 2006, when the winner was Thomas Bjorn (Casey runner up), after a remarkable comeback following a 78 in his first round.
 
http://www.cartonhousegolf.com/montgomerie.html
 
Monty’s course is an inland links-like course (for want of a better word), and, helped by some good old bad Irish weather, proved to be a very tough test indeed for the pros in those two years and I remember there were a few disgruntled faces and unhappy voices out there complaining that it was just too tough. The pretty horrendous rough, the myriad of deep bunkers, some very undulating greens (which sometimes feed off into very deep bunkers) and the fact that it is quite open and exposed if there is bad, windy weather were the main characteristics that contributed to that course making very few fans among the competitors (at more than 7300 yards, it’s not very short either). I played the course before and after they had the Open there first time, and have to say that after the tournament the setup was much ‘milder’ than before with regards to the rough in particular (you can see here a cut from a picture I took in 2006 with Harri in the ‘milder’ part of the rough)…
 

Spoiler:

But anyway, judging by the noises I heard yesterday from some players and from Harrington in particular, it seems that the organisers may have got the message and they went even further this time with cutting down the rough and Paddy seemed to be at pains repeating that with that and the good weather forecasted, scores should be much lower this time and there will be ‘many players who will come out with a smile on their face’…
Not sure how much the reputation of the course had to do with it, but the reality is that the field strength this year turns out to be rather disappointing, with a projected 32 points on offer for the winner, down from a much more decent 38 points last year…
 

Spoiler:

Personally I believe the date/calendar is still the main problem here, while the lack of a big sponsor doesn’t help the situation either. Having said that, well done to all the Irish star players for supporting the event this year once again, I’m just hoping that all of them will also take it seriously and will put up a strong performance this week. Not quite sure if the big guns like Rory, GMac and Padraig are determined to give 100% on the course this week, but I really hope they’ll prove me wrong. The defending champ from Portrush, Jamie Donaldson, has a ‘perfectly bad’ record on Monty’s course with two MC’s out of two. There’s been all sorts of finger pointing to names like Shane Lowry (who lives on site) and Thomas Bjorn as some of the favourites, and although I wouldn’t disagree with that,  I still think that this event, on that course, is really open and it’s hard to predict who will be the contenders come Sunday.
 
As I mentioned, the weather is almost always an issue at the Irish Open, but this year the forecast is not too bad, although some light rain and wind are expected, especially tomorrow and maybe on Sunday afternoon as well. Really looking forward to this and I’m hoping to make it there at least for one (hoping for two) of the next four days…

If Luiten keeps on driving the ball the way he does, he could give it a shot (after a rather disappointing attempt to qualify for the Open). But personally, I favour Rory returning to form.

And thanks for the write up PD, always entertaining!

Hope you have a good day at the golf, pd.
I trust you'll see the Padraig of Rounds 1 & 2 from Hartford last week and not the dismal effort from Rounds 3 & 4 - it's been a year of good starts and poor finishes from him, a sure sign of a golfer losing his edge. If he wonders why he doesn't make the Bridgestone, or inroads into the FedEx Play-Offs, it'll be tournaments like that wot did him in. Still, a win this week would solve a lot of problems!

Thanks for the preview,

Hope Rory gets out of his funk this week. I just saw Caroline lose today, so I guess she will be in his gallery this weekend.

Tyler McCumber is in the field this week. I believe he is Mark McCumber's son.

Thanks guys. I will enjoy it for sure!

Glad to hear Rory and Graeme there on the ET site with some very positive interviews and frame of mind and basically very much underlining what Paddy said yesterday about the rough being down and 'plenty' of scoring opportunities. That should be a first for that course, but should be certainly fun to watch...

Harrington claims to have a sponsor lined up for next year. Any idea who that might be?

You mean a sponsor for the Irish Open...? No idea yet...

McDowell making another bold and possibly controversial statements...?

After saying that Rose was the best golfer in the world in recent years, now he said that the Scottish Open has lost its prestige... ouch!

Not really inspiring stuff from the morning's marquee group so far... It's true that the first few holes on the front nine aren't as exposed to the wind as the start on the back nine, and the wind does blow quite a bit this morning... If it keeps it like this we won't have any birdie fest out there as some players were trying to suggest yesterday...

Don't know anything about McCumber apart from his father's background, but he's dealing pretty well with the rain and wind so far...

princedracula wrote:You mean a sponsor for the Irish Open...? No idea yet...

Yes

Rory way down the board at 2 over. Heard a rumour that the R&A are implementing a new rule on foot pressure to prevent dents in the course. Lowry would need tennis rackets to get to the max kg/cm2 level. But the Big Mac promise for each birdie he makes seems to be paying off!

pd,
Is this the "light rain and wind" you expected? Hope it doesn't get lighter . . . . . . Really hope Lowry turns his season around.

Apart from those having parochial interest, how many events on the Pro Tours these days are really prestigious? I can think of four, plus probably Wentworth and the Aussie Open, but precious few more unless they attract first clas fields on a top class course.
And not many do.

I just had to drive through town half an hour ago and had gone through a pretty heavy patch of rain... May have to reassess my choice of shoes for tomorrow if it keeps it this way... In my defence, the Met Office over here went through about 4-5 changes in their forecast for today since yesterday, so I just give up on that front...
 
Big changes in the marquee's group's fortunes since I checked this earlier on and although I'm delighted for Shane and Thomas, I'm afraid that my concerns regarding Rory's showing here are not too far off the mark so far. Im not saying that he's not trying, but whatever it is, it just doesn't feel to me like someone who's 100% focused on getting the best he can out of this week... Thank god for that birdie at the last, still hope he'll turn it around somehow tomorrow...
 
Looks like another pretty bad last minute choice I made with my FT picks last night, when decided to dump Casey... We'll see...

Is this why you decided to dump Casey?

http://www.golfchannel.com/media/bmw-international-open-2013-25th-anniversary-party-gallery/#3

Or is this the reason?

http://www.golfchannel.com/media/bmw-international-open-2013-25th-anniversary-party-gallery/#7

Either way, these glimpses of better form are surely no mirage.

Looks like Paul and Pollyanna were eclipsing Paulina last week...

Not sure how much milking he's been doing these days, but although I've seen that he's starting to put together some very good rounds every now and again, I just decided I don't trust his consistancy yet... We'll see if he proves me wrong this week...

Rain stopped there for the moment, and if it stays that way the afternoon starters may have a bit of an advantage...

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know you were right again, pedro...

I did pick them myself in the FT, but so did thousands of others I believe...

Great to see McDowell starting well, Paddy... not so much yet...

Let's wait and clap 'til Sunday. Shane could easily have choked in the club house buffet by then. And TB could easily just have choked.

Lowry looks to have become a "well rounded" player on the ET.

-5 is pretty good, though probably just wanted to get in quick for the free lunch.

McIlroy off to another flier I see...

I genuinely thought there was a limit to the number of food related jokes I would see in a 12 month period but I have to bow(if I could)to Super.Got to go dinners out

navyblueshorts wrote:McIlroy off to another flier I see...

I wonder if nike kept the receipt after they signed up r-mac?

Just goes to show that changing clubs and ball does make a massive difference. From being by far and away the best player in the world to someone who scores 7 worse than the most laughable physique in European golf in just a few months is something of a catastrophic fall from grace.
Even his "acting" is better than his golf these days, but I suppose that as bad as he is, he's still a better golfer than his bird is a tennis player.

Good, never liked the tatty munching pube head.

super_realist wrote:Just goes to show that changing clubs and ball does make a massive difference. From being by far and away the best player in the world to someone who scores 7 worse than the most laughable physique in European golf in just a few months is something of a catastrophic fall from grace.:

Mmmmmm not sure about that. McIlroy wasn't exactly flying this time last year was he? He had a purple patch towards the end of the season and that's all anyone remembers.

He's just streaky....he'll come in to some form and rack up a couple of wins and then he'll tail off again.

GMac changed clubs as well didn't he? (after his US Open season) And after a slump he seems to have rebounded nicely?

"After a slump he (McDowell) seems to have rebounded nicely".
Now he's in another slump - not much "prestige" missing cuts like that Graeme . . . . .

It also seems that the club house buffet didn't just rebound on Shane Lowry.

That's the trouble with an afternoon tee-time for Shane, he gets to have the early morning buffet, breakfast buffet, elevenses, brunch and the lunchtime trough before the first tee, plus whatever goodies his caddie stores away for him.

Keegan Bradley's caddie, "Pepsi", is so addicted to the sugary fizz that he hides cans of the stuff at strategic points around the course to retrieve during a round. Wouldn't wonder that super-realist might have suggested the same regime for Shane.

No wonder Shane has the habit of hitting bunkers when you don't expect it, he has got a few dozen oreo's buried there

He seems to have digested by now... or maybe he just found the hidden oreo's.

Maybe they were Digestive Biscuits?
See Rory's waking up too.

And, talking of waking up, whassup with Robert Rock? A year of hibernation and, hey presto, out of the blue, he's found a leaderboard to get on top of.

Kwini its probably the Open.RR needs to find a way into it in the next two weeks via top 20 or whatever.Looks pretty solid only one bogey in 2 rounds and he is a very good player in the wind and rain for whatever reason just doesn't seem to bother him what the weather is doing.Six under last round in Germany last week.Id love to see Rob and Lowry(matchstick man?)in a replay of was it three years ago.Crowd got a bit over involved shall we say at the time but Rob still took the cheque as a pro.Should be a good weekend with the GP and bikes as well.Ive just shot 30 points on a shocking day in our main seniors comp and back out at 8 in the morning in presidents trophy.Need to find a masseur but it may well be a Chinese takeaway and a few beers -perfect prep.

dyna,
Robert Rock earned very positive media attention during his brief cameos here - hope he continues his good form.

Irish stars eclipsed at Carton House . . . . Glad Lowry's showing he has the stomach for a fight however.

I can see Luiten and Lowry battling it out on Sunday. They play pretty similar, just a couple of letters between their outfits though (M v XXXXXL)

Really really dissapointing from the irish stars...........................

Still fail to understand Harri playing last week.......garnered 1 Fed Ex Cup point and a missed cut here. Rory just looks a bit lost.

Hope to head up on Sunday and hope Lowry is in contention.....................

Did I miss the forum rule that says you have to make a weak joke about Shane Lowry's weight every time you mention him?

Sorry, but you all come across as proper keyboard warriors who are trying to take the urine out of someone else to make yourselves feel better. Pretty sad.

Smithers, not true, not every post contains a Shane Lardy joke.

Smithers,
No-one would care if it wasn't for the fact that people recognise his talent and hope that he goes on to a great career - something to do with the weight of expectations I suppose.

I thought you of all people would be above it, Kwini. Evidently not, even if vaguely more subtle.

Smithers, just tell us that you are a fan of the spatially challenged earthlings and we will recenter the focus of our attention on others. By the way, another very miserable performance for Rory and Gmac, Ireland beats it's little sister by a mile! Go Lowry!

Oh Smithers, Kwini texted me that he wanted to be above it, but apparently dear old Shane filled the whole room with his presence and Kwini got left out

Lighten up smithers. Must of us actually like Shane - although some may have more of a love-ate relationship. Personally I'm not in doubt he'll step up to the plate.

See, I wouldn't mind if they were any good, but you're just cramming in any old food reference and thinking that's funny. And I didn't mean that to be one

Smithers, jokes come in numbers, the more the merrier. Just like Shane and Bmacs

And yeah, I like Lowry while making fun of his size. At least he stands out

Fine round, great 3-2-3 finish, from Andy Sullivan.
How good is he? Very promising year so far . . . . .

Good lad Andy very easy going appreciates his chosen career.Attached to Nuneaton GC just down the road and well thought of.
Shane needs to get a move on or he will miss afternoon tea(sorry)

Shane doesn't mind the jokes he just lets his golf do the talking. Which is lucky really because his mouth is usually preoccupied with eating.

Nice to see Daniel Gaunt going well. I used to deliver his letters. After a tough spell he won a challenge tour event a month or so ago and seems to have got come confidence back.

Hope I haven't jinxed him and he goes on to a decent finish and a nice cheque.

Cheers dyna,
Sounds like just what English golf needs - Pepperell also.
Is it unfair to say that the post-Rose generation of British golfers have rather underwhelmed, with the exception of Rory? (And Martin Laird.)

Would think Oliver Fisher still has plenty of time, and Willett and Wood could be anything if they're fit, but certainly not making the splash that one might have expected. (Though I'm still expecting Russell Knox to make a decent PGA Tour career.)