More luck-of-the-Irish tales
Talking about “Luck of the Irish”, it’s amazing to realise that eight years ago, a then unknown young Irishman won the Irish Open after a play-off and didn’t see a penny of the prizemoney. His name was Shane Lowry. At the time, he was still an amateur golfer yet the 22-year old stunned the field by shooting a remarkable 17-under par at County Louth GC. The Irishman’s well-earned 500,000 euros went instead to Tour pro Robert Rock from England.
It’s always fascinating to glance through the history books of tournaments. The name of Seve Ballesteros first appears in the list of honours in 1978 when he was runner-up with John O’Leary from Ireland in the Irish Open. Interesting to see that a young Scot won that year by one stroke. It was none other than the lovely Ken Brown, now famous the world-over for his charming golf commentary for the BBC and the Golf Channel.
Another Scot making regular runner-up appearances in Ireland in the seventies and eighties was Brian Barnes. The burly, cheeky chap, who I got to know during my golf publishing days in Sussex, was three times a ‘bridesmaid’ (1976, 1980, 1983). On the last occasion, he had to step aside for Seve Ballesteros who was already busy carving-out his legendary career. The Spanish maestro went on to win in Ireland on two more occasions (1985, 1986). Four years later, José Maria Olazábal became the second Spanish winner of the Irish Open.
Spanish golf fans have had to wait an awful long time before seeing another Spaniard walk off with the Irish Open title. That honour has now gone to Jon Rahm. Just as Lowry back in 2009, Rahm is a 22-year old golf talent. The player from Barrika scooped the 2017 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Hosted by the Rory Foundation an impressive six shots ahead of the rest of the field.
You can READ MORE about Rahm’s brilliant record-breaking tally of 24-under par here.
More brilliant play on the Emerald island
Before we leave the Emerald island, we’d like to give credit to a few other players who played some terrific rounds at the weekend in this year’s Irish Open (6-9 July). Firstly, Scott Hend. The Australian shot a bogey-free 8-under par 64 in his third round which included six birdies and an eagle. Frenchman Julien Quesne ditto on the same day. Although his 64 included nine birdies and a single bogey at the 17th.
On Sunday, Ireland’s Gavin Moynihan also shot a 64 to get to 13-under for the tournament and take a share of 14th spot. His gallant rise up the leaderboard was eclipsed by a round of 63 by Scotland’s David Drysdale. Out in a rollercoaster 34 (2 bogeys, 2 birdies, 4 pars and 1 eagle), the 42-year old from Edinburgh then came home in 29 – a blistering back-nine which started par, par and then ended with 7 straight birdies. Amazing! It was the lowest round of the week and got him to 17-under par for the tournament giving him a share of fourth place alongside Ryan Fox (New Zealand), Daniel Im (USA) and Olympic Golf Champion, England’s Justin Rose.
Get lucky. Go to Ireland and play golf!
Wendy Hoad
PICTURED: Irishman Shane Lowry as a fully-fledged Tour Pro playing in the 2016 US Open at Oakmont where he found himself leading the tournament after 54 holes only to finish in a tie for second place behind winner Dustin Johnson.