Irish Golf News

Rory McIlroy makes his eighth birdie of the day at the 18th

Jordan Spieth jokingly called the grip change a move to the dark side, but If happiness is a long walk with a putter then Rory McIlroy was walking tallest at the Blue Monster last night.

Just 24 hours after a mediocre performance with the cack-handed style and only hours after former Ryder Cup skipper Paul McGinley said he was making too many mistakes and paying too much attention to what his rivals were doing, the former world No 1 made a major winner’s move in the WGC-Cadillac Championship, holing a 20 footer for birdie at the 18th for a stunning 65.

Having used the blade 33 times and single putted just four times in a 71 on Thursday, McIlroy overcame an early putting blip to run riot on the greens on Friday, running in eight birdies.

He loves nothing more than proving doubters wrong and this was yet another satisfying day for the four-time major winner.

A total of nine single putts in his first 12 holes, including five in a row from the fourth, saw him soar up the leaderboard en route to a 23-putt, seven under par round that eventually left him tied for second with defending champion Dustin Johnson (64), two shots behind leader Adam Scott (66) on eight under par.

“I stroked the ball well yesterday, I just struggled with the pace,” McIlroy said at the finish. “So I worked a little bit on pace last night. It was nice to birdie the 18th. I saw that Adam birdied the 17th to get to 10 under so i didn’t want to be too far behind going into the weekend.”

It was almost as if he had heard McGinley reiterate what he told the Irish Independent last October about his new habit of taking about his putting.

Rory McIlroy. Picture: Getty Images

“The important thing for Rory is not to over-react to what (Jordan Spieth and Jason Day) are doing," McGinley said. "The important thing for him is not to try to be something, just because they are.”

McIlroy confessed that what stopped him changing to the left hand under style earlier was precisely his fear of comparison with world No 1 Jordan Spieth.

“It’s funny, I’ve been playing it around in my head a little bit about making the switch,” he said. "And the one thing that I was sort of worried about was the McIlroy copying Spieth. That was my big thing. That was the whole thing for me was that.”

McGinley also knows that McIlroy is a dogged competitor and the left hand under putting style worked a dream in the Florida sunshine though there was a moment of doubt early on before he outscored Spieth (69-72) by five shots over the first two days and Day (72-74) by 10.

Scott, who won last week’s Honda Classic, continued his good form with a six under 66 for a two shot lead over McIlroy and defending champion Dustin Johnson, who blasted an eight under 64.

But the big Irish story was McIlroy, who has clearly found confidence in his new cack-handed putting method.

After following a chip and putt birdie at the first by lipping out from four feet for par at the second, McIlroy crucially holed a seven footer for par at the fourth and he was off and running.

He birdied the next four holes in row, holing putts of seven feet, 14ft, five feet, and three feet to got five under par.

Out in 32, he then had to hole a seven footer for par at the 10th after bunkering his third and a nine footer for another momentum saving par at the 11th after a poor chip.

He then holed a 10 footer for birdie at the par-five 12th and a 25 footer at the par-three 15th to go six under for the day and tie for the lead with England’s Danny Willett, who ended the day alone in fourth on seven under after a 69.

"It was much better," McIlroy said of his putting. "I feel like I played similarly from tee-to-green. That really hasn't been the issue over the past few weeks. But the putter was really what was the big difference. You know, held a really good par putt on 4, and then I made four birdies in a row after that to sort of get the round going.

"There was a lot of big momentum putts in there that I had not been holing. So to see those drop today and to be as comfortable as I was, it feels really good, and obviously very happy with where I'm at going into the weekend."

In an example of his single-mindedness, McIlroy insisted he never doubted what he was doing for a moment.

"Even though I didn't hole as many putts yesterday, I didn't doubt what I was doing for one second," he said. "I knew that this was the right way forward for me. But of course, the emotions are slightly different; coming off the course and shooting 7-under to doubling the last last night and shooting 1-under, it's a bit different.

"Very comfortable with where it is and very happy with where it is. It was nice to make that putt on the last, because I had great chances on 16 and 17 to make birdies, and you know, I saw Adam got to 10-under par after 17, and I really wanted to make that putt on 18 just to try and stay with him going into the weekend.

"It was a great putt to finish with, and obviously gives me a lot of confidence going into the weekend."

Veteran Phil Mickelson (45) had cruised three clear of the field on nine under par after eight holes. But as McIlroy moved up a gear, the left-hander made mistakes, covering the back nine in 40 for a 72 that left him tied for seventh on five under.

If it was a great day on the greens for McIlroy, it was a frustrating one for Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell. Both are feeling great about their games and their lives in general but they failed to get rewarded with the putter for some excellent play from tee to green.

Lowry bogeyed the ninth, his 18th, from the green side bunker and fell back to tied 29th on level par after a 73 while McDowell was smiling after a birdie-birdie-par finish for a 71 left him in joint 37th on one over.

“That’s probably the least I have ever got out of a round of golf,” Lowry said after a round featuring three bogeys and just two birdies. “I am playing great, so I am expecting a decent weekend.

“You know, I feel I am hitting great putts and the putter feels great in my hand. I feel like I am going to hole putts, they are just not going in.

“I was very disappointed to bogey the last to be level par for the tournament. If I’d made par, I’d have been happy at one under.”

Lowry’s frustration was summed up by the 18th, his ninth, where got a "mud ball" and his 192-yard approach from the centre of the fairway sailed so far right it ricocheted off the roof of a corporate tent right of the green and ended up near the practice putting green. 

“For the front nine, I felt like I didn’t hit a bad shot and I was one over,” Lowry said, revealing he had to bite his lip after that shot following his bad language fine last Sunday.

“I put a good swing on it and it pitched on the grandstand. Hopefully things go the other way over the weekend.”

McDowell could not be happier with the way he is striking the ball but he was also frustrated on the greens, despite finishing birdies at the seventh and eighth.

“I hit the golf ball really really well,” McDowell said. “I got off to a slow start and then the last 13 or 14 holes I hit the ball beautifully. 

“The putter has been eluding me slightly and I’ve hit a lot of great putts that haven’t gone in. It’s just been one of those days on the greens.”

Whitehead's John Ross Galbraith. Picture by Pat Cashman

First there were six. Then four. Now there are only two. The good news is that Ireland is guaranteed a semi-finalist in the Spanish Amateur Open at Real Club de Golf de Sevilla where East and South of Ireland champion Stuart Grehan will face reigning North of Ireland champion John-Ross Galbraith in the first of the quarter-finals.

It was another excellent day for the Irish and while Naas pair Jonathan Yates (Jorge Maicas 1up) and Conor O'Rourke (James Walker 3/1)  bowed out in round one, their presence in the matchplay draw said nothing but good things about the progress they have made in recent months.

Maicas turned out to be the last local standing after he went on to beat Dermot McElroy 2 and 1 with a solid all round performance in the third round.

The Ballymena man was one of four Irish winners in round one, beating Italy's Michele Cea 2 and 1 to set up a last 16 meeting with Aragonés star Maicas, who is in fine form.

Ireland's leading qualifier Colm Campbell took a big scalp in the morning with an impressive 4 and 3 win over Walker Cup player Grant Forrest of Scotland.

Got putted off the course today, was up against it from the start. Looking forward to getting home for a week to recover #OnwardsAndUpwards

— Grant Forrest (@grantforrest93) March 4, 2016

But the Warrenpoint man fell be one up to England's Scott Gregory in the afternoon.

Grehan only squeaked into the draw in 32nd place but he took down leading qualifier Owen Edwards of Wales by 4 and 3 before seeing off Bonallack Trophy bound Bradley Moore 2 and 1.

Grehan now faces Galbraith, who beat Austria's Luka Lipold at the 19th in the morning and then beat Spanish hopeful Sigot Lopez by 4 and 3 in the afternoon.  

Matchplay draw and results

Rory McIlroy holes his longest putt of the day from 14 feet at the 17th, his eighth.

Plus ça change... 

It would be tempting to think that’s the scenario facing Rory McIlroy but even though his new-look putting style failed to pay off as he took 33 putts and double bogeyed his final hole in the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral last night, the Ulsterman did his best to sound upbeat about his form on the greens in Miami, where he was 56th of 66 in the first round.

Shane Lowry was thrilled to come back from two over after seven to match McIlroy’s 71 for a share of 16th spot despite cracking his favourite driver in practice and being forced to use a back up. But McIlroy was not quite as upbeat, though he tried hard to look in the bright side.

While he had holed little, the world No 3 looked to be cruising to a round in the 60s at the demanding Miami venue until he turned an eagle chance into a three-putt par at his 17th hole and then splashed down at the par-three ninth to run up a closing double bogey five.

His 71 left him tied with a combative Lowry on one-under par, five shots behind American Scott Piercy and Australian Marcus Fraser, who shot six under 66s to lead by one from 45-year old Phil Mickelson, the 2009 champion.

McIlroy did not putt badly at Donald Trump’s famed Blue Monster but while he missed just a pair of putts inside eight feet, he lacked conviction with the blade and confessed that he needs time to learn to trust his pace as he watched Jordan Spieth take 29 putts in a 69 and Jason Day 30 in a 72.

“My speed wasn’t too good on the greens,” said McIlroy, who ended the day tied with the Clara man, who made an eagle and two birdies to come back from a slow start as Graeme McDowell dropped two late shots and signed for a 74. 

“I was leaving a lot of putts short…. It's the first day competitively with a bit of a new grip for the putting. But I felt like it was pretty good. I’m just disappointed about the finish. I just need to get out there tomorrow and try and pick up those shots quickly again and try to start from there.”

McIlroy single putted just four greens and while it looked as though he would walk off without making an error, he three putted the eighth for par, coming up seven feet short with a 37-foot eagle putt before missing for birdie.

He feigned throwing his putter into the lake there in a reprise of the three-iron toss of a year ago, when Donal Trump had the club retrieved from the lake by a frogman.

“One club in the water here is enough I think,” McIlroy said with a grin, adding that his putting grip “felt good.” 

“I’ve putted enough with it, obviously over the last few days, but in the past, as well, that it does feel pretty comfortable,” he said. “I guess with the longer putts, I do feel like I have to hit them harder. 

"I don't know if that's a combination of me thinking the greens are a little bit faster than what we are and just having to adjust for that a little bit. So that's why you see me leave a lot of putts short out there.”

There was little wrong with McIlroy’s long game as he gave himself a birdie putt and two eagle looks on his first three greens. 

Having reduced the 614 yard 10th to drive and a five wood, he tickled an 18 footer down 18 inches short of the hole to open with a birdie and never really looked back.

He was short again with his birdie effort from 30 feet at the 11th and again from 35 feet for eagle at the 12th but he made a three and a half foot there to go two under.

His putter couldn’t save him in par-three 13th, where he missed a 12 footer after pulling his 210 yard tee shot, and had to grind hard for his par at the 14th after leaving his slippery, 40 foot approach putt five feet short. 

But he birdied the dangerous, 152-yard 15th from seven feet, and then followed a missed chance from inside nine feet at the 16th by rolling in a 12 footer for birdie at the 17th.

His bogey at the 18th, where he got a friendly bounce off the palm trees into the right semi-rough only to overshoot the green and fail to get up and down, was a minor frustration.

His par putt from eight feet was easily his worst effort of the front nine but he was soon on the birdie trail again, caressing home a four footer at the 605-yard first f after a fine wedge from 113 yards danced to a stop near the pin.

While McIlroy cruised, Lowry was two over par early but matched McIlroy with a one under 71 as McDowell got back to level after an early double bogey at the fourth only to bogey the 14th and 16th for a two over 74.

Fined for bad language last, Lowry dropped early shots at the third and seventh — two of the toughest holes on the course — but came back strongly and drove the ball well with his back up driver after cracking his favourite weapon on the range on Wednesday.

“I’ve had the driver for a few years and it’s the one that brought me victory last year in the Bridgestone so it’s been a very special driver,” Lowry said. “Fortunately, I had a back-up driver and that performed superbly so I feel very lucky.”

“A 71 is a great start on what is not an easy golf course, so it’s a score I can now build on.”

But Lowry was spectacular, making a superb two at the 188-yard ninth and then following that with an incredible eagle three at the 10th to move into red figures.

The Clara star smashed a  313-yard three wood to less than four feet there and while  three putted the 11th for bogey, he birdied the 17th thanks to a 154-yard approach to two feet and then parred the 18th.

“I was quite comfortable with my iron play as I hit two beautiful iron shots over my closing two holes, and while it was a new driver, I just got up there on 17 and 18 and hit it really hard,” Lowry told reporters.

“And the eagle at 10 was another great drive, taking on the corner there, so I felt very comfortable. So I’m pretty happy given I didn’t hole that many putts once on the greens but overall looking forward very much to the next three days.”

Co-leader Marcus Fraser. Picture:  Getty Images

First round notes courtesy of PGA Tour.

First-Round Leaderboard

T1        Scott Piercy                 66 (-6)

T1        Marcus Fraser             66 (-6)

3          Phil Mickelson             67 (-5)

T4        Danny Willett               68 (-4)

T4        Adam Scott                 68 (-4)

T4        Jason Dufner               68 (-4)

T4        Charley Hoffman         68 (-4)

 

First-Round Leader Stats

Scott Piercy hit 10 of 14 fairways, 12 of 18 greens and had 25 putts in his first-round 66 (-6). His round included eight birdies and two bogeys.

Piercy has held the first-round lead/co-lead four previous times in his PGA TOUR career, most recently the 2015 CIMB Classic where he eventually finished T7.

This round marks the 20th time Piercy has opened with a first-round score of 66 or better on the PGA TOUR and the 11th time he has opened a tournament with a round of 6-under or better.

Marcus Fraser hit 8 of 14 fairways, 14 of 18 greens and had 26 putts in his first-round 66 (-6). Fraser, who began his round on No. 10, closed with five 3s over his last six holes, his blemish a bogey 6 at the par-5 8th hole.

This is Marcus Fraser’s first lead/co-lead after any round in his 17th start on the PGA TOUR.

Fraser’s previous best position after an opening round on the PGA TOUR was T5 at the 2013 PGA Championship where he finished T47. The 67 (-3) he recorded in that opening round at Oak Hill Country Club during the PGA Championship was his PGA TOUR low round before today’s 66.

Scott Piercy 66 (-6)

This week is Piercy’s 200th start on the PGA TOUR.

Piercy is making his ninth World Golf Championships appearance, having played in each of the four different championships at least twice. His best result in a World Golf Championships event is T2 at the 2012 HSBC Champions. He finished T25 in 2013 in his only previous Cadillac Championship appearance.

Piercy has 33 rounds of 65 or better in his PGA TOUR career with 61 his career low (R3/2011 Reno-Tahoe Open, R4/2013 Waste Management Phoenix Open).

Piercy opened the 2015 CIMB Classic with the lowest first-round score in tournament history (62) to take a three-shot lead after 18 holes. He followed with three matching rounds of 69 to finish T7, seven strokes behind champion Justin Thomas. That result is Piercy’s best of the 2015-16 season.

Piercy is a three-time winner on the PGA TOUR with victories at the 2011 Reno-Tahoe Open, 2012 RBC Canadian Open and the 2015 Barbasol Championship. He also owns two Web.com Tour victories.

In 2007, Piercy recorded a 5-under 31 on the back nine to overcome a three-stroke deficit with five holes to play to win the Ultimate Game at the Wynn Las Vegas G&CC. He posted rounds of 68-65 to win, which resulted in a first-place check of $2 million. The win came on his fifth wedding anniversary.

Marcus Fraser 66 (-6)

Australian Marcus Fraser is making his first PGA TOUR start this season, having qualified for the Cadillac Championship following his win at the Maybank Championship Malaysia on the European Tour two weeks ago. The victory elevated him into the top-10 on the European Tour’s Race to Dubai making him eligible this week. Fraser traveled to Australia for the ISPS HANDA Perth International after his win, where he posted a T15 finish before traveling to Miami earlier this week.

Fraser played two major championships in 2015. He finished T20 at The Open Championship and T64 at the U.S. Open.

This is Fraser’s eighth start in a World Golf Championships event.  Although he advanced to the second round of the 2013 Dell Match Play after defeating Keegan Bradley 1-up in round one, his best WGC stroke play finish is T24 in the 2012 Cadillac Championship. This week is Fraser’s fourth appearance in the Cadillac Championship.

Fraser has three European Tour wins (2003 Russian Open, 2010 Ballantines Championship, 2016 Maybank Championship Malaysia).

In 2012, Fraser lost a playoff to Danny Willett at the BMW International Open. Fraser led that event after a 64 in the opening round. He bogeyed the 72nd hole to fall into the playoff and three-putted to lose the fourth extra hole.

Fraser was a distinguished amateur golfer in Australia. He finished as the top individual in the Eisenhower Trophy world teams event before turning professional in 2002.

Phil Mickelson 67 (-5)

Mickelson is seeking his third World Golf Championships victory having claimed the HSBC Champions and Cadillac Championship titles in 2009. This is Mickelson’s 14th start in the Cadillac Championship and his 46th World Golf Championships appearance.

Mickelson’s 67 is his sixth sub-70 opening round in six starts this season (68/CareerBuilders Challenge, 69/Farmers insurance Open, 69/Waste Management Phoenix Open, 68/AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, 69/The Honda Classic, 67/Cadillac Championship).

Mickelson, 45, is the oldest player in the field this week and is one of five players in their 40s at the Cadillac Championship. Jamie Donaldson, Scott Hend, Zach Johnson and Soren Kjeldsen are all 40 or older. Ernie Els, aged 40 years, 4 months, 25 days in 2010, is the oldest winner of the Cadillac Championship.

Danny Willett 68 (-4)

Willett is making his eighth start in a World Golf Championships event, having played at least once in each of the four WGC events. Willet defeated Jim Furyk, 3 and 2 in the consolation match of the 2015 Dell Match Play for his best WGC result. He also finished T3 at this season’s HSBC Champions. Willett finished T12 last year in his only previous appearance at the Cadillac Championship.

Willett owns four European Tour wins (2016 Omega Dubai Desert Classic, 2015 Omega European Masters, 2012 BMW International Open, 2015 Nedbank Golf Challenge).

Adam Scott 68 (-4)

Scott, winner of The Honda Classic last week, continued his good form with a 4-under 68 in the opening round of the Cadillac Championship. Scott also finished T2 at the Northern Trust Open two weeks ago. Scott has posted 11 of 13 rounds in the 60s on the PGA TOUR in 2016.

Jason Dufner 68 (-4)

This is the fourth time in six starts at the Cadillac Championship that Dufner has opened the tournament with a round in the 60s. Dufner’s first-round 66 in 2012 led to a T29 finish. His T9 in 2014 is his best performance in this event. Dufner won earlier this year at the CareerBuilder Challenge to claim his fourth PGA TOUR title.

Charley Hoffman 68 (-4)

Hoffman started his round at No. 10 with four consecutive birdies and finished the round at 4-under after three additional birdies were offset by three bogeys.

This is the second time in seven starts this season that Hoffman has posted a sub-par opening round. After a first-round 67 at the CareerBuilder Challenge Hoffman missed the cut.

Miscellaneous Notes

Jordan Spieth (69), Jason Day (72) and Rory McIlroy (71), the top three players in the Official World Golf Ranking respectively, were grouped together for the first time since the opening two rounds of THE PLAYERS Championship in May last year. Here’s how they fared at TPC Sawgrass while paired together;

Player                                R1                                  R2                                           Finish

Jordan Spieth                    75                                   72                                            MC

Jason Day                         69                                   81                                            MC

Rory McIlroy                      69                                   71                                            T8

 

There are four past champions in the field this week:

            Player (year won)                                                                  R1 Standing

Dustin Johnson (2015)                                                            T28                

Patrick Reed (2014)                                                                T62

Justin Rose (2012)                                                                  T48                            

Phi Mickelson (2009)                                                              3rd

                                                                      

• Jordan Zunic, a 24-year-old Australian who earned a spot in the field as the No. 2 player on the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit, began his round with birdies at Nos. 10 and 11 and finished T48 at 3-over 75. Zunic, at No. 530, has the lowest Official World Golf Ranking of any player in the field.
• Of the 66 players in the field, 24 are from the United States. The next largest contingent comes from Australia with eight players teeing it up. England has seven players, South Africa has four and Sweden has three. The following countries round out the field – South Korea (2), Northern Ireland (2), Japan (2), Argentina (2), Spain (2), Thailand, Wales, France, Germany, Denmark, Scotland, India, New Zealand, Ireland and Austria
• There are 17 players making their first career Cadillac Championship start: Kristoffer Broberg, Jordan Zunic, Nathan Holman, Yusaku Miyazato, Smylie Kaufman, Byeong-Hun An, Daniel Berger, Steven Bowditch, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Fabian Gomez, Emiliano Grillo, Kevin Kisner, Russell Knox, Danny Lee, David Lingmerth, Andy Sullivan and Justin Thomas.
• Five players are playing in their first-ever World Golf Championships event: Kristoffer Broberg (Sweden), Jordan Zunic (Australia), Nathan Holman (Australia), Yusaku Miyazato (Japan) and Smylie Kaufman (USA).
• Playing at +0.572 strokes over par, the 18th hole at Trump National Doral was the toughest finishing hole on TOUR last year. In this year’s opening round, No. 18 played +0.470 strokes over par and ranked as the 2nd most difficult hole on the course. The hardest hole in the first round was the 246-yard par-3 4th hole which averaged 3.652 strokes. The easiest hole in round one was the 614-yard par-5 10th hole at -0.364 under par.

Scoring Average

               Round 1       Round 2          Round 3       Round 4          Total

Front 9  36.592

Back 9  36.015

Total       72.607

The first-round scoring average of 72.607 at Trump National Doral ranks as the most difficult first round this season, slightly ahead of the 72.329 at The Honda Classic last week.

Bogey-Free Rounds

R1 – None

Colm Campbell (Ulster) playing from the rough at the 13th hole during the second day of the 2015 Interprovincial Championship at Rosapenna. Picture by Pat Cashman

Jack Hume missed out but Warrenpoint's Colm Campbell Jnr fired a superb second 67 to lead a six-strong Irish contingent into the matchplay stages of the Spanish Amateur Open in Seville.

World No 11 Hume, bidding for a third successive win this year, finished two shots outside the leading 32 after a second round 77 as Tullamore's Stuart Grehan scraped through in 32nd spot after a 75.

Grehan now goes on to face Owen Edwards of Wales, who led the qualifiers on six under 138 by a stroke from Ugo Coussard of France with British Amateur champion Romain Langasque third on 140 with Guido Migliozzi of Italy thanks to an impressive 63.

Campbell tied for fifth on 141 and now faces Scotland's Grant Forrest in Friday's first round while Naas' Jonathan Yates takes on Spain's Jorge Maicas after he shared ninth spot on 143 after rounds of 71 and 72. 

Naas' Conor O'Rourke (72 73/145); John Ross Galbraith  (72 74/146) and Dermot McElroy (72 74/146) also made the knockout stages alongside East and South of Ireland winner Grehan (72 75/147) and take on James Walker, Lukas Lipold, Michele Cea and Edwards respectively.

But there was no luck for Hume (149), eoff Lenehan (150), Colin Fairweather (151), Robin Dawson (152), Thomas Mulligan (153) or Alex Gleeson (154) as the cut fell at 147 with one player missing out on that mark on countback. 

Spanish Amateur Open, Real Club de Golf de Sevilla (Par 72) 

• Strokeplay scoreboard
• Matchplay draw
• Nations Cup

Qualifiers

• 138 Owen Edwards (Wal) 66 72
• 139 Ugo Coussard (Fra) 70 69
• 140 Romain Langasque (Fra) 76 64; Guido Migliozzi (Ita) 71 69
• 141 Colm Campbell (Warrenpoint) 74 67; Mario Galiano (Esp) 70 71
• 142 Michele Cea (Ita) 73 69; Luka Lipold (Aut) 68 74
• 143 Jonathan Yates (Naas) 71 72

--- Other Irish qualifiers---

• 145 Conor O'Rourke (Naas) 72 73;
• 146 John Ross Galbraith (Whitehead) 72 74; Dermot McElroy (Ballymena) 72 74
• 147 Stuart Grehan (MU/Tullamore) 72 75.

Non qualifiers

• 149 Jack Hume (Naas) 72 77
• 150 Geoff Lenehan (Portmarnock) 75 75
• 151 Colin Fairweather (Knock) 75 76
• 152 Robin Dawson (MU/Faithlegg) 73 79
• 153 Thomas Mulligan (Co Louth) 73 80
• 154 Alex Gleeson (Castle) 77 77

Maria Dunne

Maria Dunne qualified for Friday’s matchplay stages of the Spanish Ladies International Amateur Open at Club de Golf Escorpión in Valencia.

The Skerries international added a six over 78 to her opening 72 to make the 32 qualifiers with a shot to spare on six over 150.

As Paula Grant rallied to 67th on 157 after a 73, Jessica Ross finished on 158 after an 80 and Chloe Ryan was 94th after a 79.

Spain’s Maria Parra topped the qualifiers on two under 142 after a 70, finishing one shot clear of Germany’s Esther Henseleit, Mathilda Cappeliez of France and Spain’s Ana Peláez .

Parra, the reigning European champion and world No 3, is hoping to add to wins already this year in the  Copa de Andalucía and the Internacional de Portugal.

She will face Italy’s Emilie Palatrinieri in the first round while Dunne will take on Pauline Roussin-Bouchard of France, who qualified in fifth place after rounds of 74 and 70.

While Dunne qualified well, there were several surprises with Switzerland’s Albane Valenzuela, the lowest handicapper in the field off plus 4.5, missing out on countback as did Austria’s Emma Spitz, winner of the individual title in Sotogrande last week.

• Strokeplay qualifying scores - Hole by hole
• Matchplay draw

Embed from Getty Images

Shane Lowry has promised PGA Tour officials that he’ll do his best to watch his language at the Blue Monster this week. But in common with his golf game, and Graeme McDowell, he will just hope to adapt as best he can to the challenges ahead.

As he chases his second World Golf Championships success in the Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral, the Clara star admitted that he has no intention of curbing his fiery temper or his tendency to blow off steam with a well-chosen curse.

The world No 23 admitted that a PGA Tour fine — believed to be $5,000 — is almost certainly winging it way to him by post after he unleashed a series of F-words after sending a seven iron into the lake at the par-three 15th in the final round of the Honda Classic last Sunday.

He just can’t promise he won’t let another torrent of curses go if he runs up another big number on Donald Trump’s water-strewn resort, where McDowell is hoping that his driving accuracy and pinpoint iron play will allow him to compete with the bombers.

“I definitely won’t be changing,” said Lowry, who tweeted, “So I said a bad word, shoot me,” after his curses drew twitter criticism on Sunday night.

“Obviously I will try not to do that again. I said it to the guys on the PGA Tour, I will do my best. I think there could be a (fine) in the post. But it does go to charity, so that’s the good thing.”

Lowry tied for 17th in his debut at the Blue Monster year despite closing with a 74. 

And he’s hopeful he can do better this year and avoid more water disaster on the feared 18th, where he followed a par with three bogeys 12 months ago.

“You have to keep it out of trouble,” Lowry said. "The 18th is just a tough hole. 

“It is one of those where you are delighted to be walking off with a four. You just have to stand up with a pair of balls and hit one down there.”

The Bridgestone Invitational winner is hoping to pick up some world ranking and valuable Ryder Cup points this week and he’s impressed with captain Darren Clarke, having played under him in January’s EurAsia Trophy win.

Clarke is in Florida this week, preparing for next week’s Valspar Championship in Tampa and the following week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.

Clarke made the first move towards breaking the ice with 2014 skipper Paul McGinley —the pair had a 45-minute Ryder Cup chat on the driving range during the Dubai Desert Classic — and his manager is optimistic he can be a good captain.

“He’s going to be very good,”  Chubby Chandler said of  the 2011 Open chamoion, who has already prepared his speech for Hazeltine in front of a camera. 

“His attention to detail is unbelievable.”

Attention to detail is key at Doral, which Lowry regards as a tough test.

“It’s the same as last week,” he said. “You just have to play well.”

The course has produced a string of big-hitting winners though the winning score has plummeted since designer Gil Hanse ravamped it completely two years ago.

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But that it measues 7,543 yards from the tips and features acres of water — hence the name Blue Monster — means the power players excel.

Since the event moved to Doral in 2007, the winners have been Tiger Woods, Geoff Ogilvy, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Nick watney, Justin Rose, Tiger Woods, Patrick Reed and Dustin Johnson.

Players like McDowell need to course to be firm and fast and the rough to be thick if they are to compete and the 36-year old is trying to convince himself that he has half a chance this week.

“It is kind of a firm golf course so you have to hit fairways,” said McDowell, who tied for third behidn Woods on 2013. "The rough is a litle patchy so in the past when it was a consistent bermuda, if you missed fairways it was very difficult to hold these firm greens. Si that has helped me in the past.”

He likes the course changes and the tweaks in the shape of extra fairway bunkers that are designed to rein in the big hitters a little more this year.

“Driving accuracy has been more of a key and I still think it is a key. I haven’t seen all the course yet but from the few tweaks I have seen they are helping me. 

"The change on seven is massive for me. The change on the par-five 12th is a helper for me. There are some nice little assists in the course this year for the mediocre driver, length wise. 

“I know if I can drive it good and hit a lot of fairways, the way my iron play is feeling at the moment, I can compete here so. I come in here and look at this as a golf course I can get round. It is not like some of the others, where I feel like I have absolutely no chance. Part of me feels like I have absolutely no chance this year.”

McDowell’s swing coach, Pete Cowen, believes the Portrush native will always compete in major events by the very natire of the venues.

“Thankfully a lot of the big tournamntns are played on tough courses — the US Open, The Open, courses I can get it round,” said McDowell, who wil be 37 in July. “The mid-30s, late 30s iused to be the prime of your golfing career, now you look across that range and I am not sure what the age is. 

“There’s a lot of golf for everyone and there are major there to be won —- just as long as I am in them. So I am ticking along.”

McDowell was facing a tough 2016 as he approached the end of 2015. But his win in the OHL Classic at Mayakoba during the Fall Series and his fifth place at last week’s Honda Classic got him into the field this week. At 55th in the world, the WGC-Dell Match Play is also on the radar. 

“Winning the Mayakoba cleaned up the schedule,” he confessed. “And last week clearned it up a little bit more. 

The year continies to pan out nicely in front of me and I am in a good place bioth physically and mentally. 

"I feel like I am swinging it as well as I have in a few years. I kept saying the word patient last week so I have got to let it happen and ride the momentum.”

Trump National Doral, Blue Monster (PGA Tour course guide)

HOLE #1
PAR 5, 605 YARDS

This hole has been significantly lengthened by moving the green back approximately 70 yards. Fairway bunkering has also been moved to reflect the driving distance of the pros, and a large centre line fairway bunker has been put in to challenge the second shot. Players will have to decide if they are going to lay up with their second shot to play over or around this bunker. Playing over and to the right will open up a better angle for the third shot. The green is significantly narrower than the original and slopes feeding in off the left will be the bail out for golfers avoiding water to the right, but the front left greenside bunker will need to be avoided to get at this slope. There are some very interesting and challenging hole locations on this green — especially back right.

HOLE #2PAR 4, 448 YARDS

There’s a new angle for the tee shot as it plays farther to the left than the original second hole, and sets up well with the diagonal nature of the fairway bunkers that are now in play. The green has been moved back and the small pond to the rear of the original green is gone, creating room for spectators to view the sloping putting surface.

HOLE #3
PAR 4, 436 YARDS    

The tee has been shifted to the left to create a new angle and create room for the 17th tee to be expanded. The remainder of the hole is pretty much intact, with the removal of the coconut palms on the water’s edge being the main change to the fairway. The green has been expanded and offers some interesting changes in elevation to guard the hole locations. The chipping area and bunker to the left of the green provide a varied recovery option from that side of the green, while water on the right offers no recovery option

HOLE #4
PAR 3, 227 YARDS

This hole is also basically intact from the original design with the major change being a re-contoured and expanded putting green.

HOLE #5
PAR 4, 421 YARDS

This hole has been lengthened about 40 yards by moving the green back. The tee shot has been altered by raising the grade of the fairway and setting bunkers into the elevation change, challenging the tee ball on both the left and right side of the hole. The new green is elevated and small and tightly guarded by bunkers, including one in the approach that appears to be greenside from the fairway.

HOLE #6
PAR 4, 432 YARDS

Like many of the other holes on the course the fairway bunkering has been moved (and angled) to reflect a certain shot shape (in this case, left to right) in order to fit in between the bunkers. The angle of the green and the greenside bunkers will then favour a right to left shot. The green has been re-shaped to create some interesting corners for hole locations

HOLE #7
PAR 4, 471 YARDS

The entire hole has shifted to the right, and numerous trees were removed so that the lake on the right is now exposed. The tee shot is angled further right and between newly created diagonal fairway bunkers, and the green has been shifted 50 yards to the right and placed at the end of the lake on the right side of the hole. Front hole locations will have the water clearly in play, while a bunker guards the left side of the green for those who are not feeling aggressive on the approach shot.

HOLE #8
PAR 5, 549 YARDS

The tee shot is pretty much the same as before – although fairway bunkers on the right have been moved farther down. The second half of the hole has been dramatically changed with the green moving 70 yards to the left and being placed on the lake that is shared with the 10th hole. The second landing area is guarded with two bunkers on the right and water to the left and right side of the fairway. The green is tucked behind three greenside bunkers, and it slopes toward the water away from these bunkers.

HOLE #9
PAR 3, 200 YARDS

Another hole that has been completely rebuilt with the tee complex shifting to the area where the old eighth green used to sit. The shot is now played over water to a perched green with water along the entire right side of the hole (as opposed to the being on the left for the original hole). The green has some interesting contouring and the bunker front right of the green feels as if it is in the right front of the green instead of 15 yards short

HOLE #10
PAR 5, 614 YARDS    

The tee shot on this hole has been transformed into a “bite off as much as you can chew” shot instead of the original hole that used to play down the left side of the lake. Now golfers will have to pick a carry point on the far edge of the lake and shape the shot according to that carry point. The green has been moved back 80 yards from the original location into an area that had been unused space. The green sits up on a plateau and has some significant contour in it, and it is best approached from the left, which is guarded by a small canal on that side of the hole.

HOLE #11
PAR 4, 422 YARDS

The strategy of this tee shot will be dictated by the hole location and the appropriate angle to play into that portion of the green. The fairway has a long diagonal bunker cut through the center of the hole and playing left, right, or over this bunker will set up the next shot into this green. The green is one of my favourites on the course with terrific hole locations on the edges tucked into some eccentrically shaped “corners” of the green.

HOLE #12
PAR 5, 601 YARDS

This hole is basically the same golf hole with the first set of fairway bunkers moved to again reflect the distance of the modern game. The green has been changed and offers more interesting putts, and the approach is more open in the front than the original hole.

HOLE #13
PAR 3, 238 YARDS

Another hole that is basically unchanged in location and distance. The new green has more contour, and is bunkered in a different fashion. Mounding has also been added to the rear of the hole to promote better viewing of this long par 3.

HOLE #14
PAR 4, 484 YARDS    

The tee is in the same location but the fairway bunker scheme has been altered to create a diagonal carry down the left (and they have been moved into better position for today’s professional golfer). The green has been elevated and moved back and to the left about 35 yards to create a platform over the newly expanded lake on holes 15 and 16. The green has a lot of contour and some very tough pins on the left side over the long and deep-fronting bunker.

HOLE #15
PAR 3, 153 YARDS

Perhaps the biggest change on the course is the re-design of this hole into a shorter par 3 with a peninsula green. The green really three greens within a green, with small targets for the golfer in the front right of the green, an upper shelf on the back right, and a lower section of the green to the left that has water to the front, back and left of this hole location. A bunker guards the right side of the green and will provide a stern recovery test as the golfer will have to aim at the water from this bunker. The view from the tee is capped off with the 16th hole serving as the backdrop for the hole and a large spectator mound to the right of the green will mean that a lot of people will get to enjoy an entirely new hole.

HOLE #16
PAR 4, 341 YARDS

Although the hole plays in the same corridor, we have removed the trees down the left side of the hole and opened up the challenge for golfers to go for the green on this short par 4. If players go for the green they will have to carry the corner of the lake and navigate a nest of greenside bunkers. Those who lay up will need to carry a long diagonal bunker to find the newly elevated fairway and will then play a short iron into the wide but shallow green. The green has plenty of hole locations to defend against the lack of length on the hole

HOLE #17
PAR 4, 425 YARDS    

This hole has been lengthened slightly at the tee, and the fairway bunkers have been moved down range and arranged in a diagonal fashion to challenge the golfer to shape their shot to play in between the bunkers. The green has been shifted to the right by about 15 yards, but it retains its long narrow shape and the bunker configuration around it is similar to the original golf hole.

HOLE #18
PAR 4, 476 YARDS    

By shifting the 17th green, we have been able to create room for spectators behind the 18th tee, and we have opened up the view corridor down the left side of the tee shot by removing trees. The remainder of the hole is basically unchanged -- the exception is the addition of some palm trees down the right side of the hole to complicate the recovery for golfers who bail out into this area.

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World No 1 Jordan Spieth reckons Rory McIlroy's decision to switch to a left-below right putting grip may prove to be a masterstroke in terms of his confidence.

The Masters and US Open champion is one of the great putters in the game and after holing more than 130 successive seven footers in a late evening practice session ahead of his Thursday morning tee time with McIlroy and Jason Day, the Texan said he was not unduly surprised by McIlroy's decision to go cack-handed.

"I don't think there was anything wrong with his stroke before but it may be something different for confidence," the American said after his 45-minute putting session.

"He may be very easily just go back to it. Anything new when it is not going well especially putting, it's huge. So I think it is a smart move if you can grow some confidence."

McIlroy spent a good deal of time working on his own stroke in the late afternoon, holing dozens of three footers around the cup with the cack-handed grip before moving on to the seven footers.

Ranked 189th for strokes gained on the greens this year when  Spieth is second, the 26-year old has decided to bite the bullet and adopt the same left below right putting grip used by the American as well as Pádraig Harrington and Shane Lowry.

“I'm going to give it a try this week and see where we go with it,” McIlroy said. “But it felt really, really good. Roll of the ball is really good. The contact is much better, and it really just takes my right hand out of it.

“Everything that I have done in my putting the last few years is all to try and lead with the left hand and really just have the right on there as more of a guide than anything else.

“But I felt like my right hand was becoming a little bit too active in the stroke. So this is a perfect way to sort of deactivate that, and I really just feel like I'm controlling the putting stroke with my left hand only.”

McIlroy said he experimented with the left below right style briefly in early 2008, just a few months after he turned professional.

But while he has since won 19 professional tournaments, including four majors, with his right hand below his left, he insists he’s going to stick with the new method for a few events, even if he struggles at first.

“I feel like it’s something I'm going to stick with regardless of what the outcome is tomorrow or this week or next week,” he said.

“I really do feel like it helps me put a stroke on it that I want to. It's a great feeling. I feel like it gives my putting stroke a bit more of a better rhythm, as well, a better flow.

“Look, if it doesn't work right from the get-go tomorrow, you're not going to see me on Friday morning putting conventional again. It's something I'm going to stick with for a while.”

McIlroy insisted that the change was triggered by some pulled putts at the Honda Classic last Friday and not suggested by his entourage.

“I missed a couple of putts on Friday at Honda that I felt, even before I made contact with the ball, that my right hand had [come across] and I missed it left. 

“So I said, I need to do something here. I was playing around with a few different grips on the putting green over the weekend. This one felt more natural to me because I've done it before and I do it quite a lot when I'm just practicing in drills, as well. So I thought, why not give it a go.

“I sent [caddie] JP (Fitzgerald) and [personal assistant] Sean (O’Flaherty) a couple of videos yesterday and said I'm going with it. I'm going to stick with it and go with it. It's felt good, so we'll see how it holds up tomorrow.”

As for the frustration of last week’s missed cut last week, he was philosophical.

“I’ve missed enough cuts in my career to know that it isn’t the end of the world,” said McIlroy, who has now missed 32 cuts in 211 starts since he turned professional — some 15%

“And it's great, in golf, you have the next week, you have an opportunity to go back out there and rectify it and play well.

“It's definitely not the last cut I'm going to miss, but I've accepted that and that's golf. You're not going to play great all the time, and as long as they can be few and far between, I think I'll be okay.”

Spieth's left below right putting style has worked beautifully for him, though he started out with a conventional grip. He explained:

I didn't learn to putt that way, no. I putted conventional, even when I first started going to my coach, I was putting conventional. I want to say, though, it was within the first year. He didn't tell me to switch at all, my instructor. I had gone a little back and forth when I was maybe 11 to 13 or 14 years old.I've kind of messed around with both, and I felt left-hand-low was very solid for me on shorter length putts, but my speed control was off, which is normally what people have a tough time getting adjusted to with it, just because it's unnatural.But for me, I do so many things with my left hand; I throw, shoot. I have a lot of feel with my left hand. I was a quick learner with judging speed, and I think it's advantageous for me to putt left-hand-low, given the kind of control I have with my left hand and holding that left wrist kind of more square and just putting a good stroke on it.The reason, yeah, that would be the reason I switched. I just started having better control with my speed. And then I started to trust it more when the pressure was on. Main reason I switched, when I did conventional, it was very unnatural for me to square my shoulders. I just kind of kept it to where it would be open so I would have a tendency to kind of come over the top of the putt and hit it over my arm line, and putting left-hand-low squared everything up.

As for his practice putting routine, Spieth revealed that he can "only" hit around 500 practice putts in a session before his back starts to hurt.

Skerries' Maria Dunne is just three strokes off the pace after the first strokeplay qualifying round of the Spanish International Ladies' Amateur Open at Club de Golf Escorpión in Valencia.

The experienced international is tied for fourth place after a level par 72 with Sweden's Linn Grant a shot in front of Ines Fendt after a 69 in the race to finish in the top 32 who progress to the matchplay stages.

But it was a disappointing day for the rest of the Irish withJessica Ross is tied 55th after a 78, Paula Grant 97th after an 84 and Chloe Ryan 99th after an 86.

Scores

Eight Irish players are inside the all important top 32 heading into Thursday’s second qualifying round of the Spanish Amateur Open Championship at the Real Club de Golf in Seville.

Welshman Owen Edwards fired a six under 66 to lead by two shots from Austria’s Luka Lipold with England’s Ashton Turner and Marco Penge tied third after 69s.

But Naas Jonathan Yates is tied 12th on one under after a 71 while clubmate and world No 11 Jack Hume (bidding for his third win in a row) shot a level par 72 to share 19th with Ballymena’s Dermot McElroy, Whitehead’s John Ross Galbraith, Maynooth’s Stuart Grehan and Naas’ Conor O’Rourke.

Robin Dawson and Thomas Mulligan shot one over 73s to share 29th but the rest of the Irish have work to do to make the top 32 who will contest the first matchplay round on Friday.

Spanish Amateur Open Championship, RCG Sevilla (Par 72)36-hole strokeplay qualifying - Round 1Detailed scores  / Nations Cup

66 EDWARDS, OWEN 

68 LIPOLD, LUKAS 

69 TURNER, ASHTON; PENGE, MARCO

70 GALIANO AGUILAR, MARIO; MATA ALSDORF, ADRIAN; GOETH-RASMUSSEN, JONATHAN; BOEGEL, MAXIMILIAN; WALKER, JAMES; SYME, CONNOR; COUSSAUD, UGO.

71 MIGLIOZZI, GUIDO; PASTOR RUFIAN, VICTOR; YATES, JONATHAN; WATSON, NICK; SAINZ DELGADO, JAVIER; DAVIDSON, JACK; GEISSLER, RAPHAEL.

72 MCELROY, DERMOT; HUME, JACK; GALBRAITH, JOHN-ROSS; GREHAN, STUART; O´ROURKE, CONOR

73 DAWSON, ROBIN; MULLIGAN, THOMAS

74 CAMPBELL, COLM

75 FAIRWEATHER, COLIN; LENEHAN, GEOFF

77 GLEESON, ALEX

Marc McKinstry

The GUI has named 16 Boys in two eight-strong teams to take on France and Wales in international friendly matches later this month.

Eight players have been included in the Ireland team to play France at Saint Donat from March 15-16 while a different team of eight will travel to Wales for another two-day encounter at Cardigan GC from March 30-31.

With six newcomers in the team to play France, Ireland will be leaning on the experience of Bray’s Alan Fahy, who played in last year’s Boys Home Internationals while Owen Crooks played in last year’s friendly against the French.

Reece Black, Jack Hearn, Mark Power and Cameron Raymond have graduated from the Irish under-16s.

Cairndhu’s Marc McKinstry, who also played in last year’s Home Internationals, is the most experienced member of the eight-man side to play Wales.

Matthew Fitzsimons played in last year’s friendly against the Welsh while Sean Desmond and JJ Logue featured with the Ireland under-16s in 2015.

“It’s the start of a new season and the first appearance for a lot of these players,” said Cathal McConn, who is in his second year as Ireland Boys’ Captain.

Ireland will play foursomes (four matches) and singles (eight matches) each day against France at Saint Donat, which is located near Cannes on the south coast.

There will be three foursomes matches on the opening day against Wales followed by eight singles matches in the afternoon. There will be eight more singles matches on the second day against Wales at Cardigan.

Alan Fahy

Ireland v France (15-16 March)

• Reece Black (Hilton Templepatrick)
• Owen Crooks (Bushfoot)
  
• Alan Fahy (Bray)
  
• Jack Hearn (Tramore)
  
• Andrew Mulhall (Waterford Castle)
  
• John Murphy (Kinsale)
  
• Mark Power (Kilkenny)
  
• Cameron Raymond (Newlands)

Ireland v Wales (30-31 March)

• Sean Desmond (Monstown)
  
• Matthew Fitzsimons (Ardglass)
  
• Harry Gillivan (Westport)
  
• Ross Kelly (Tuam)
  
• JJ Logue (Hilton Templepatrick)
  
• Jack McGarry (Rosslare)
  
• Marc McKinstry (Cairndhu)
  
• Joseph O’Neill (Tralee).
  

Shane Lowry plays the 18th at Trump National Doral's Blue Monster course with coach Neil Manchip and caddie Dermot Byrne on Tuesday

Donald Trump may become the 45th President of the United States but whether or not he becomes a distraction as his Trump National Doral course hosts the WGC Cadillac Championship this week, he’s unlikely to change the essence of the way he goes about his business.

The same is true of world No 4 Bubba Watson or Irish stars Graeme McDowell and Shane Lowry as they prepare to take on the fearsome Blue Monster.

For Watson, the big-hitting, self-taught left-hander from Baghdad in Florida, golf is a game of feel and confidence and he all but admitted in Miami yesterday that he will never win The Open or the US Open because he simply hasn’t got the will to change his game to suit those tests.

For McDowell and Lowry, flexibility nuance are part of the equation.

“I'm never changing my game for a certain tournament,” said Watson, who has missed the cut in both the Open and the US Open for the last two years. “I play 20 tournaments a year, so that means 20 different swings and thoughts I've got to figure out.

“I love the game of golf over in Scotland, links golf, true links golf. I love it. But one week, going over for one week is hard for me to get where I need to be to perform at a high level.

“The British Open, really it bugs me a little bit just because the imagination, I haven't been able to perform all four days.

“But truthfully, if we ended right today and Bubba could never play golf again, I think my career is better than I ever dreamed it could be.”

This week’s challenge is not quite the Masters but it is still tailor made for Watson — a bomber’s course that requires imagination and a high ball flight.

It’s not the kind of track that is usually kind to the likes of McDowell and Lowry, for all his length, prefers a course where he can take advantage of his short game.

As golf evolves, there will be fewer opportunities for the likes of McDowell to shine and win regular tour events, even if the 7,500 yard Blue Monster has only been kind to him twice — in 2010 when he was tied sixth and three years ago, when he shared third behind Tiger Woods.

Back on track with his game after refocussing following the birth of his daughter in the latter half of 2014, McDowell’s coach Pete Cowen reckons he’s still got another 10 years to look forward to in big events such as The Open or the US Open.

“He’s got a bit more focus, a bit more discipline,” Cowen said at Doral yesterday. “He’s got his eye back on the ball You never lose the talent.”

What Cowen does see changing is the game itself but he’s hopeful that a talent of 36-year old McDowell’s magnitude will be relevant for another decade, especially in the majors.

“The game is evolving, changing,” the PGA Master Professional said. “So over the next 10 years, you are going to see guys burnt out at 35 because of the forces they are putting their bodies through, hitting it so far. 

“There again Adam Scott and Sergio are still good at 35. Why? Because technically they are very, very sound. They are not just standing there and lashing it. 

“The power game is already there, especially on the resort courses. But you are still going to have a US Open where  the power game is not going to be much good to you. 

“Certainly in a British Open, flight control is everything and Bubba at St Andrews wasn’t any good because he doesn’t have much control of his ball flight. He has a lot of spin on it but he doesn’t have control of it. 

“It is perfect for Augusta. I’d bet on Bubba Watson every year at the Masters. There couldn’t be a course more made for him. But here at Doral, you just have to bomb it, if you look at the results over the years, it is a bomber’s course.”

Watson has yet to win at Doral, though he’s finished in the top three in three of the last four years. But while it is a big ask for McDowell, he finds a way to get around and compete here.

“Graeme is still a player and will be able to play into his mid-40s,” Cowen said. “There is room for everybody.  In fact, I think Graeme will get himself in the mix in a few of the majors this year.”

Cowen also has a lot of time for Lowry, who tied for 17th on his debut at Doral last year.

Recalling how the told the GUI that they had two potential star players at an early coaching session he gave over a decade ago — “The’s another one you know, the fat kid with glasses” — he’s not surprised that the Clara lad has become one of the world’s best.

“You can always see he was going to be a very good player. He has always had unbelievable pitching and short game skills,” he said. “And he loves playing golf. He loves the game. And that’s why he does so well. 

“He has never been an avid practicer, thrashing thousands and thousands of balls. But he will pitch for hours because he loves it.”

As for tomorrow’s opening round of the first WGC of the year, Rory McIlroy has been “drawn” in the traditional Big Three group with world No1 Jordan Spieth and No 2 Jason Day.

McDowell partners Billy Horschel and Bill Haas as Lowry goes off with Jimmy Walker and Kevin Na.

Shane Lowry can expect a fine of around $5,000 from the PGA Tour for his F-bomb splashdown at the Honda Classic on Sunday night.

But if all goes to plan this week, it’s not a fine for blue language but big pile of greenbacks that lies in store if the can conquer the Blue Monster and pocket the $1.62m on offer to the winner of the WGC-Cadillac Championship.

The Offaly star (28) admitted that his Twitter feed “lit up” on Sunday after the NBC broadcast began with him berating himself by shouting “you f*****g idiot” after his seven iron tee shot at the par-three 15th headed towards the lake. As it descended he added another "f**k": un case we missed the first one. 

He wasn't particularly contrite, tweeting: “So I said a bad word.... Shoot me!”, will not have made the PGA Tour less likely to impose one of their usual hefty fines.

Shane Lowry offering the kind of commentary that follows most of my tee shots https://t.co/qH8uNHOl7J

— James Dart (@James_Dart) February 28, 2016

So I said a bad word.... Shoot me!

— Shane Lowry (@ShaneLowryGolf) February 28, 2016

The world No 23 might well have wondered why his playing partner, Smylie Kaufman, appeared to get little social media flak for snapping his seven-iron over his knee after hitting his tee shot in the water just moments earlier.

Whatever the financial implications, it’s not the first time that Lowry has raised eyebrows for his colourful use of the English language.

When he won the 2009 Irish Open win as an amateur, the tension was such in the back nine that he delivered a few well chosen pearls to the boom mics, prompting David Garland, the European Tour’s director of operations, to as the Clara man’s manager to pass on some friendly advice.

“I spoke to Conor Ridge at Horizon and asked him to advise Shane of the presence of boom mikes on the golf course at tournament,” Garland confirmed at the time.

Lowry wore the same sheepish look he displayed on Sunday when he turned up at Trump National Doral on Monday to do a photoshoot for one of his sponsors.

Quick photo shoot w/ @ShaneLowryGolf before Doral! Thanks @BiltmoreHotel... Course is unreal. pic.twitter.com/I2hF3EGGiW

— Srixon (@SrixonGolf) March 1, 2016

But having finished tied 53rd at PGA National, he’s determined to conserve energy and put in a good performance around the Blue Monster in a no-cut World Golf Championship event that offers huge world ranking (and Ryder Cup qualifying) points.

“I said to (caddie) Dermo, we won’t have any trouble sleeping next Sunday night after four rounds on this course and four rounds at Doral,” Lowry said of the challenge of his high profile schedule.

“Mentally you just have to be rested,” he said of the challenge of playing a big event every time he tees it up. "Doral is just brutally tough as well. I suppose the golf course is scoreable but you really need to have your game and miss it in the right spots.”

The big winner at the Honda Classic were Adam Scott, whose first win with a conventional putter for more than five years catapulted him to ninth in the world and reminded everyone that he’s another threat to Rory McIlroy’s hopes of completing the career Grand Slam at the Masters

The other winner was Graeme McDowell, who finished a fine solo fifth to remain in the top 10 in the FedEx Cup standings, thus qualifying for this week’s WGC-Cadillac Championship.

At 73rd in the world,the Ulsterman knew he had to perform and make it to Miami to have any chance of  securing his place in the top 64 in the world who will play the WGC-Dell Match Play in Texas a fortnight before Augusta.

As it turned out, his fifth place finish catapulted him 18 places up the standings to 55th in the world

But he’s not getting ahead of himself as he bids to return to golf’s top table despite hailing Sunday’s result as “huge” for his career.

“For me at the minute it means allowing myself the time to find my way back into leaderboards and the upper echelons of the game again," McDowell said. "It is not going to happen overnight. 

“It will require a lot of grinding and maybe some mistakes but if I can keep doing what I am doing in practice, it can only start to feed onto the golf course again. I guess I am just giving myself time to let that happen.

“A course like this, and Doral, and Tampa, and Bay Hill, those are courses that don’t let you get ahead of yourself. Courses where a 63 is the going rate is not my kind of game. I like a course like this where I can shoot five or six under — for the week.”

Rory McIlroy won’t be pushing any panic buttons following his missed cut in the Honda Classic.

But if the world No 3. or anyone else, thinks that winning the Masters will be easier because there will be less focus on him and more on Jordan Spieth, he’s clearly mistaken.

At least, that’s the view of Jack Nicklaus, who insists that there is no magic formula to playing Augusta National or winning the Masters.

As Adam Scott won the Honda Classic with a conventional putter to move back to world No 9 revive his name as another possible rival for McIlroy at the Masters, Nicklaus pointed out that the Holywood star (or anyone who wants to win green jacket) has to learn to play just six keys shots well.

“He’s still got to play,” Nicklaus said of McIlroy having less pressure than Spieth. “He’s still got to shoot the lowest score. Just because you guys are going to write about it, it has nothing to do with what he thinks about it. 

“He’s going into Augusta trying to win the golf tournament. That’s what he’s going to Augusta for. Whether you guys are talking about it being easier because of Jordan, that’s silly. It’s what you guys have to do. You guys have to fill up space.”

The Golden Bear has had long chats about the game with McIlroy but he insisted they have not spoken at length about how to play Augusta National. 

“I don’t think I have ever talked to Rory much about playing that course,” the six-time Masters winner explained. “The only thing you have got to do is hit it long and straight and putt well. Make a few chips when you don’t quite make it. That’s all you do on any golf course. 

“There is no real mystery to it. It’s just how you do it. Don’t do the foolish stuff. Most people ask me and there are about six tough shots at Augusta. Don’t try to do things you really aren’t comfortable with and you say, man I got away with that. 

“Then the next day, you decide to try and get away with it again and that’s when you lose the golf tournament. You keep your discipline.”

McIlroy has a mixed record at Trump National Doral, finishing tied 20th, tied 10th, third, tied eighth, tied 25th and tied ninth in six appearances since 2009.

But Graeme McDowell and Shane Lowry are hoping for big performances in Miami after contrasting weeks in the Honda Classic.

McDowell finished a fine solo fifth and jumped 18 places to 55th  in the world, securing his place in the top 64 in the world who will play the WGC-Dell Match Play in Texas a fortnight before Augusta.

But he’s not getting ahead of himself as he bids to return to golf’s top table despite hailing Sunday’s result as “huge” for his career.

“For me at the minute it means allowing myself the time to find my way back into leaderboards and the upper echelons of the game again," McDowell said. "It is not going to happen overnight. 

“It will require a lot of grinding and maybe some mistakes but if I can keep doing what I am doing in practice, it can only start to feed onto the golf course again. I guess I am just giving myself time to let that happen.

“A course like this, and Doral, and Tampa, and Bay Hill, those are courses that don’t let you get ahead of yourself. Courses where a 63 is the going rate is not my kind of game. I like a course like this where I can shoot five or six under — for the week.”

On qualifying for the first WGC of the year via the Top 10 in the FedEx Cup standings, McDowell said: “It's big to be there with World Ranking points to play for on a course which I like. It’s one step in the right direction. We'll keep grinding.”

Lowry started well at the Honda Classic with a three under 67 but while he shot 69 on Saturday, five over 75s on Friday and Sunday were disappointing.

The Clara man would prefer to have off days in an event like the Honda Classic and that’s why he’s pacing himself for this week’s no-cut, World Golf Championship where there are huge world ranking and Ryder Cup qualifying points on offer.

“I said to (caddie) Dermot, we won’t have any trouble sleeping next Sunday night after four rounds on this course and four rounds at Doral," Lowry said at PGA National.

“Mentally you just have to be rested. Doral is just brutally tough as well. I suppose the golf course is scoreable but you really need to have your game and miss it in the right spots.”

Moyvalley Hotel and Golf Resort

The PGA in Ireland has announced a new three-year title sponsorship and host venue agreement with Moyvalley Hotel and Golf Resort.

The 2016 Irish PGA Championship will be hosted on the Twin Oaks Championship Course from September 22-25 with the event to be staged at the Co Kildare venue for three years to 2018.

As a mark of respect to the late Christy O’Connor Jnr, the PGA in Ireland will host the inaugural 'Christy O’Connor Jnr Memorial Irish PGA Championship Pro-Am' on Wednesday, 21st Septemberon the Twin Oaks Championship Course.

The Shabra Charity Foundation, which was founded by the late Oliver Brady and Rita Shah will be the official event charity.

Michael McCumiskey, Secretary PGA in Ireland said: “We have witnessed many great and exciting Irish Championships over the years and I have no doubt that the Twin Oaks Championship Course will provide a testing examination for the players.

"We are pleased that this year’s event will not only be staged at Moyvalley Hotel & Golf Resort but also sponsored by the venue and we thank the Directors for their generous support of the tournament. The commitment is for three years and the Directors of Moyvalley Hotel & Golf Resort have given their clear intention to support and host this historic tournament until 2018.”

He added: “Following the sad passing of Christy O’Connor Jnr it is fitting that, in agreement with his family and the directors at Moyvalley Hotel & Golf Resort, the Championship Pro-Am will bear his name and be titled - 'The Christy O’Connor Jnr Memorial Irish Championship PGA Pro-Am'.

“We are also pleased to announce that this year Shabra Charity is the 'Official Charity' of the 2016 Irish PGA Championship who will be promoting the work of their charity during the week of the Championship. We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to work with everyone at Moyvalley Hotel & Golf Resort to stage an Irish PGA Championship that will live in the memory.”

Ms Rita Shah, Director of title sponsor and host venue Moyvalley Hotel & Golf Resort, said she was delighted to show the resort's commitment and support for Irish professional golf and the PGA in Ireland with this announcement.

She said: “On behalf of the Directors of Moyvalley Hotel & Golf Resort and the Twin Oaks Championship Course we are honoured and delighted to announce our support for the 2016 Irish PGA Championship. We recognise and value the important role that the PGA in Ireland play in supporting the development of Irish PGA professionals and Irish tournament golf.

“The Twin Oaks Championship Course will prove a serious and challenging test of golf for all who compete in this prestigious national event and we look forward to welcoming Ireland’s leading PGA professionals from across the country to play at Moyvalley Hotel & Golf Resort later this year.”

The family of the late Christy O’Connor Jnr welcomed the announcement.

"On behalf of our family we are touched by this kind gesture from the PGA in Ireland to pay tribute to Christy’s untimely and unexpected passing by hosting the 'Christy O’Connor Jnr Memorial Irish PGA Pro-Am' in his name," a statement read.

"Christy was a proud member of the PGA in Ireland during his career as a professional golfer and this is a very fitting mark of respect which we hope will help to continue his legacy and commitment to the game of golf.”

The Irish PGA Championship has been staged since 1907 and has been won by golfing luminaries such as Fred Daly, Harry Bradshaw, Paul McGinley and Padraig Harrington. Last year, Niall Kearney made it back-to-back victories with an emphatic 14-shot victory at Dundalk GC.

For further information on the Twin Oaks Championship Course and Moyvalley Hotel & Golf Resort please visit www.moyvalley.com

EDITORS NOTES

SHABRA CHARITYTo date Shabra Charity has raised over €600,000 and donated to St Luke’s, Tallaght and Mater Hospitals to purchase vital equipment and support research for cardio, cancer and eye care.Shabra Charity also support international projects in in Nigeria and Kenya to build schools and further children’s education. For further information please visit www.shabracharity.comMOYVALLEY HOTEL & GOLF RESORTMoyvalley Hotel & Golf Resort and is set amidst 550 acres of historic North Kildare countryside, one of Ireland’s leading luxurious resorts. The Twin Oaks Championship Course forms the centrepiece of the Balyna Estate for what is one of the most impressive venues for golf in Ireland.The course presents a fair challenge for all levels of golfers and is flushed out with large greens, lakes and bunkers. The par 72 course requires a studied and accurate approach. The course takes on the features of a traditional Irish links golf course with tall fescue grass, quick and true greens with heavy contouring, run offs and firm surfaces.The modern and luxuriously appointed clubhouse boasts extensive locker room facilities together with a spacious bar and restaurant offering panoramic views of the course and estate. The clubhouse has a fully stocked Pro Shop with all the latest equipment and apparel also compliment this great facility.The venue also boasts some of the best practice facilities in Ireland including a driving range with both outdoor and covered driving bays, a short game academy which includes two large chipping greens, three large bunkers and one large practice putting green, all of which are built to a USGA specification.For further information on the Twin Oaks Championship Course and Moyvalley Hotel & Golf Resort please visit www.moyvalley.com

Fred Daly Trophy champions Kilkenny Golf Club at the GUI Champions Dinner, Carton House, Maynooth, Co. Kildare. Credit: Matt Browne / SPORTSFILE

Fred Daly holders Kilkenny and Ulster champions Tandragee will be bidding to follow in the footsteps of Mallow and Galway Golf Club by completing a hattrick of Irish wins in the Junior Inter-Club Home International Trophy at Antequera Golf Club in Spain next week.

Kilkenny beat Tandragee in the All Ireland final at Moyola Park last August and after last year’s Home Nations Championship saw Galway follow in the footsteps of Mallow, Irish junior golf will be going for three in a row.

The Irish teams will be competing against the national champions and runners up from England Scotland and Wales and excitement is mounting in both Irish camps as final preparations from the March 7-10 event are in full swing.

In Kilkenny, a series of fund raising activities has while in Co Armagh, Tandragee's squad of William Small, David Cunningham, Jake Rowe, Edward Rowe, Peter Taylor, Cameron Fox, Jordan McKenzie and Lewis Fox is eager to get going.

Jeff Forde, club past captain and deputy team manager who is helping to coordinate the trip to Spain said: “The boys are absolutely excited and are practicing hard to make sure they are fully prepared. The whole club is throwing its support behind the team. There is a lot of interest.”

Fred Daly Ulster Champions Tandragee. Back Row (L-R) Rennell Gale, David Cunningham, Lewis Fox, Ross Taylor, Dympna Keenan (PGA Professional/Junior Convenor), Benjamin Boyd, Edward Rowe, Cameron Fox, Robert Megarity (Club President). Front Row(L-R) Jordan McKenzie, William Small (Junior Captain), Hamilton Loney (Club Captain), Jake Rowe, Peter Taylor.

A series of fund raising activities has also taken place, including the auction of a signed Northern Ireland football shirt from Chris Baird for the Faroe Islands away game during their successful Euro 2016 qualification campaign. 

The squad of eight players will be accompanied by club professional Dympna Keenan, team managers, family and supporters.

The Home Nations Inter-club Championship, which is now in its 21st year, will be staged from March 7-10 for Nigel Dolton Trophy.

The Championship has grown into one of the biggest and most prestigious junior team tournaments in the world.

It is the only one in the British Isles and Ireland and is supported by the R&A, the four national golf unions and the Golf Foundation. 

More than 1,300 clubs with 650,000 members - over half of the UK’s and Ireland’s clubs  - compete each year engaging an estimated 80,000 youngsters.

Sky TV will broadcast highlights from the event later in the year.

Other clubs competing are Hallamshire and Burhill (England); Murrayfield and Uphall (Scotland) and The Vale of Glamorgan and Green Meadow (Wales).

Pádraig Harrington poses with the Miami Dolphins mascot and a pair of cheerleaders at the Honda Classic

Graeme McDowell took a giant step back towards the top of the game when he finished fifth behind Adam Scott in the Honda Classic in Florida.

The former US Open champion closed with a one under 69 to finish five strokes behind the Australian on four under and secure his place in the field for this week’s WGC-Cadillac Championship at Trump Doral.

The Ulsterman will jump from 73rd to around 55th in the world today and appears certain now to make the top 64 in the world rankings who will to qualify for the WGC-Dell Match Play Championship in Texas two weeks before the Masters.

“It’s huge,” said McDowell who must remain inside the top 64 after this week’s World Golf Championship event in Miami to make sure of his place in the field in San Antonio. 

"In this game, we talk about process a lot, but we need results to back up the processes to tell us we're on the right path. So I've been hitting it unbelievably in practice, and it's nice to take it on to the course and get some reward out of it.

"Yeah, you need that little bit of legitimisation of what you're doing to keep you working harder, as well. Like I say, really happy with a lot of things I’ve got going on. 

"I feel like I can really have a big year from year. Like I said to you guys early in the week, just stay patient with it and I did a good job doing that this week and I’m going to keep working on that going forward.

“I can pencil Doral in now — a course I like — and we can keep grinding. I am really positive about a lot of aspects of my game.”

Scott won with a conventional putter for the first time in more five years, taking 32 putts as he closed with a level par 70 to win by one shot from Sergio Garcia on nine under par.

“I hit a lot of great putts again today,” Scott said. “Golf's a game where some days they go in like yesterday and today they just were rolling over the edge but I hit a lot of good ones, but I made some, too. Yeah, look, I did what I had to do.”

Pádraig Harrington headed home for a week’s break after closing with a one over 71 to finish tied 43rd on four over.

But Shane Lowry looked likely to land a PGA Tour fine for dropping an “F-bomb” as he found water and double bogeyed the 15th en route to a 75 that left him tied 53rd on six over.

After watching playing partner Smylie Kaufman (72) hit a seven iron into the water and snap the club over his knee in anger at the 15th, the Clara star also found water and let out a well chosen expletive.

Grinning sheepishly when asked about the incident, he said: “I just struggled.  I got a few bad breaks early on. 

“The only bad shot I hit was on 15 and I got heavily penalised. I was playing that hole thinking if I can make one or two on the way in I can still have a good finish.”

The Clara star birdied the second from 15 feet but bogeyed the third fourth and eighth and then followed his double bogey at the 15th with a bogey at the 17th.

“I’m bit disappointed after battling so well all week but that’s the way this course and this game is,” Lowry said. 

"As I said to [caddie] Dermot, it could have happened on worse days. I was battling to try and finish in the top 20. It could have happened when I was in the hunt.  So hopefully it won’t happen the next time I’m in contention.“

Jack Nicklaus speaks at the Honda Classic

It appears that Jack Nicklaus wishes the US team would quit fretting about overcoming Ryder Cup pressure and concentrate on winning majors.

“My feeling on that is that it goes in cycles,” Nicklaus said when asked about the dinner he hosted for some 25 potential US  Ryder Cup players at his Palm Beach home last Thursday evening and the anxiousness of the Americans to end European dominance in the event. 

“I said to them, ‘There you are worrying about the Ryder Cup and you have four majors coming up. There are far more important things that the Ryder Cup coming up.’

“It is a great honour to represent your country and it is a great honour to be part of an international team, but it is supposed to be fun.

“I said, ‘Can you tell me who won and lost the matches in the last Ryder Cup?’ Not at all. Can you tell me who won the last four majors? 

“It is not that big a deal. I know you want to play your best but take it as a game you prepare for and have fun. 

“It is for bragging rights and don’t try to make it more than what it is. You talk about pressure. Are you trying to tell me you have more pressure trying to win the Ryder Cup than you do coming down the stretch trying to win the US Open? Crap.”

Padraig Harrington agrees with Nicklaus that the results are cyclical.

"Look, at the end of the day, these results are circumstantial," Harrington said last week: "We are having a good run, the US aren't, everybody is trying to find an answer. I don't think it is as measured as you think it could.

"In Europe, we have a little chip on our shoulder — a point to prove — being the underdogs. We need it more than the US. Maybe now the US needs it a lot as well. For the last 20 years, we've needed to win the Ryder Cup to justify our status. We are the country cousins and we want to prove ourselves. Now, we are putting it up to the US."

Darren Reynolds and Romain Wattel

Ardglass rookie Cormac Sharvin picked up his first cheque as a professional when he finished tied 52nd behind Louis Oosthuizen in the ISPS HANDA Perth International.

Ranked sixth for driving distance in the event at 302.3 yards and 66th for putting, the former Walker Cup star closed with a level par 72 to pick up €4,146.

The 22-year old made an eagle and 17 birdies in four rounds — a great sign as he begins his professional career.

Meanwhile, Oosthuizen claimed his eighth European Tour title at Lake Karrinyup Country Club.

The World Number 21 came into the final day with a three-shot lead and, while he was briefly caught on the front nine, the South African cruised to a closing 71 to finish on 16 under, one shot ahead of Frenchman Alexander Levy.

Local favourite Jason Scrivener had been the man to rein in Oosthuizen earlier and he signed for a 69 to finish third, with Grégory Bourdy and Peter Uihlein a further shot back on 13 under.

Scores

Sunshine Tour — Kevin Phelan slipped to tied 11th as Jaco van Zyl won his third Eye of Africa PGA Championship on the first extra hole.The South African won with a par four on the first extra hole after finishing regulation play level on 20-under-par with Dean Burmester.“This and the South African Open Championship are the biggest titles in South Africa,” said Van Zyl, who closed with a 67.”It’s wonderful to have won this one for a third time. It’s a privilege to have my name on the trophy alongside some of the great golfing names that are there already.”In third place, three strokes back from the leading duo, was Ockie Strydom, who sank a 30-foot bomb on 18 to secure his spot. And three more shots back were Dylan Frittelli and invitee Scott Vincent from Zimbabwe.Phelan started the final round tied for second, two off the lead, but while he had an eagle and two birdies, he also had six bogeys in a two over 74, earning ZAR 21547 (€1,219). Scores

European Tour — Paul Dunne has joined forces with Paul McGinley’s former caddie Darren Reynolds.

Reynolds caddied most recently for Romain Wattel of France, who has yet to win on the European Tour.

The new pair missed the cut in the ISPS HANDA Perth International on Friday.

The negative is a missed cut but the positive is a well needed trip home! Hopefully some home cooked meals sorts out the putter problems!

— Paul Dunne (@dunners11) February 26, 2016 Ladies European Tour — Jiyai Shin of Korea won the RACV Ladies Masters at the Pines Resort in Australia, closing with a 69 to win by three shots from Holly Clyburn on 14 under par.Carlow’s Rebecca Codd was 74th on 19 over, closing with a 80 to earn €575.Scores

Graeme McDowell insists he won’t “be back” quite yet, even if pulls off a final round comeback and wins the Honda Classic.

The world No 73 has short term problems to resolve in that he must remain inside the Top 10 in the FedEx Cup standings to qualify for the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral next week and keep alive his chances of squeaking into the WGC-Cadillac Matchplay. 

But he’s also looking at the bigger picture which is a return to golf’s top echelon and he was clearly chuffed to come back from a mid-round wobble to post a three under par 67 that left him tied for sixth at the end of another fraught day at PGA National.

Sergio Garcia shot a 67 and Adam Scott came back from a quadruple bogey seven at the 15th to post a 66 as they ended the day four clear of Blayne Barber on nine under par.

With Rickie Fowler slipping to a 74 that relegated him to tied fourth alongside Justin Thomas on four under, McDowell found himself “just” six behind at the end of the day.

. @Graeme_McDowell isn't afraid of Bear Traps. #QuickHits https://t.co/FI3XJclLKx

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 27, 2016

He's tied for sixth with veteran Vijay Singh and Scott Brown. But even at six adrift, he will not expect everyone to come back to him on a course that is still hugely punishing.

“I am going to have to go out there and shoot a low number to have a shot,” McDowell said after a round featuring six birdies, one bogey and a double bogey six. 

He just has to avoid a final round implosion to qualify for Doral but he’s not ready to declare his game back to its old level just yet.

“Definitely too early to say that. Save that headline," he said with a smile. "I will be happy to tell you when I am back. If I win tomorrow, I am close to being back. I have one foot back in the room again.

Despite this big number, Adam Scott matched the day's best round. #PGATOUR https://t.co/tepZ89W14r

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 27, 2016

"I better go out and go low. It is not like we have a bunch of chops at the top of the leaderboard and they are all going to come back to me. I have to go low tomorrow.”

McDowell’s golf was brilliant at times on Saturday with his birdie twos at the seventh and 17th truly spectacular. 

“I’m enjoying the way I’m playing and more importantly, I’m enjoying the way I'm feeling on the golf course," he said. "I'm feeling very relaxed and very patient, and just starting to see some of the rewards of all the work I've been doing the last six months.

"You can never predict what's going to happen but I really feel like I'm doing a lot of things the right way again, and I've just got to be real patient. I feel like I can have a big year, but I’ve got to stay very patient and keep in the processes. 

“Weekends like this one, rounds like that today, it’s just going to give me the confidence to keep kind of going forward and pour that back into the game and we'll see what happens."

Asked to define what he means by being patient, he said it meant guarding against going out saying to himself, ‘I’m flushing it, let's go and shoot 65.’ 

“For me at the minute it means allowing myself the time to find my way back into leaderboards and the upper echelons of the game again," he said.

"it is not going to happen overnight. It will require a lot of grinding and maybe some mistakes but if I can keep doing what I am doing in practice, it can only start to feed onto the golf course again. I guess I am just giving myself time to let that happen.”

It’s perhaps fortunate that he’s facing a stretch of tough courses right now rather than tracks that favour the bombing middle classes. 

“A course like this, and Doral, and Tampa, and Bay Hill, those are courses that don’t let you get ahead of yourself. Courses where a 63 is the going rate is not my kind of game. I like a course like this where I can shoot five or six under — for the week.”

McDowell celebrates his birdie at the 17th

Tough courses also suit Shane Lowry and Pádraig Harrington but they had mixed days at the Champion Course on Saturday.

Lowry might have bogeyed the 16th and 17th to turn a possible 67 into a 69 but he’s enjoying the challenge of tackling a schedule that is taking a lot out of him both physically and mentally.

Tied 22nd on one over, the Offaly man is just three shots outside the Top 10 and hopeful he can have a good finish before resting up for the Blue Monster and the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Trump Doral next week.

“I felt like I putted lovely today,” said Lowry, who holed 87 feet worth of putts and used the blade just 27 times. “But I left a score out there again and finished badly yesterday and today. 

“My goal was to get under par for the tournament and I had it there but hit a bad, sloppy shot at 16 and made bogey and a bad swing on 17 (in the water) and found the bunker off the tee trying to hit a big tee shot at the last.

“It’s amazing. I drove the ball unbelievable yesterday. The first day I struggled off the tee, iron play was good. Today my iron play felt good, putter felt good. It’s just a question of putting it all together. Maybe next week, or tomorrow.

“If I shoot mid-60s I could Top-10 it so that’s the plan. I am learning more about this course every day that I play it so that will be knowledge for next year.

“It’s a tough course and it does beat me up a little bit but it does suit aspects of my game so it will probably be on the schedule next.”

Shane Lowry has played the treacherous 15th in 2 under this week.

The gallery appreciates it. https://t.co/pT0EFfSzRD

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 27, 2016

Given the schedule he now faces, Lowry confessed that it’s far more demanding than before with tough courses and big events, week after week.

“There is no let up out there at all,” he said of PGA National. “Apart from 17 out there today, there are other holes apart from the Bear Trap that are brutal — 14 and 10 and even the seventh, the par three. It was 233 yards today into the wind.

"It’s one of the courses where you have to play well and putt really well. You are going to have a lot of five and 10 footers for pars and you have to hole them.”

Lowry didn’t have to putt at the seventh as he chipped in for a two to move into the red having followed birdies from 20 feet at the first and three feet at the par-five third with sloppy bogeys off wayward approach shots to the fourth and fifth.

A birdie at the ninth got him back on track but after hitting a great five-iron from 189-yards to five feet to set up a two at the 15th, he got too ambitious at the 17th and found the water with a five-iron. 

He got up and down from 132 yards for bogey, holing a 12 footer for his four there. But while he only parred the last — he bunkered his drive looking for the big tee shot — he knows he has to conserve his energy early next week for his assault on the Blue Monster.

“I said to Dermo, we won’t have any trouble sleeping next Sunday night after four rounds on this course and four rounds at Doral," Lowry joked.

“I think Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday I am going to really have to rest up and hit a few shots here and there — nine holes Tuesday and nine holes Wednesday.  

“Mentally you just have to be rested. Doral is just brutally tough as well. I suppose the golf course is scoreable but you really need to have your game and miss it in the right spots.”

Harrington had a tough day at the office, dropping shots at three of his last four holes for a two over 72 that relegated him from tied 28th to 43rd on three over par.

The Dubliner birdied the third but he struggled to get birdie putts to the hole at the second, fourth and  sixth and when then missed a six footer for par at the seventh.

Another bogey at the ninth left him where he started the day but after birdies at the 10th (20ft) and 12th (8ft) he never threaten to make another birdie.

A three-putt bogey at the 15th, where he missed a four footer, left him level for the day and he then hit a poor tee shot well left to bogey the 17th before missing a three footer for par at the last.

He was suitably downcast at the finish but still signed autographs for kids, handed out golf balls and eventually headed for the putting green in search of a stroke for Sunday.