Irish Golf News

Kevin Phelan

Kevin Phelan fired a six under par 66 to lurk just two shots off the lead entering the final round of the Eye of Africa PGA Championship.

The Mount Juliet touring professional has his eye on his maiden win as a professional after a bogey free, six-birdie effort left him tied for second with Dean Burmester on 13 under par.

Jaco Van Zyl added a 66 to previous rounds of 68 and 67 to remain bogey free for 54 holes and lead by two from Phelan and Burmester at Eye Of Africa Signature Golf Estate.

Scores

“As the tournament has gone on, I’ve got to know the course and that has an effect on the scoring,” Phelan said. 

“There were a couple of holes on the first day that were playing downwind and I hit the ball to close for a decent approach, and that got sorted out. 

As for the leader, South African Van Zyl said: “It’s the first time I’ve ever gone 54 holes without a bogey. 

“It’s just about keeping it in play, hitting a lot of greens and making the odd putt. Every day has just got better so hopefully tomorrow we can keep on improving.”

According to the Sunshine Tour:

While Van Zyl spent much of the day watching playing partner Burmester drive the ball prodigious distances and making two more birdies than he did, it was a level of consistency which professionals often only dream of that pushed him clear of his pursuers – and Burmester made three bogeys in between his eight birdies to hamstring his own run at the title.Van Zyl has held the historic PGA Championship trophy aloft twice already, and he will prove a formidable obstacle for anyone to overcome. “I’m not going to change anything,” he said. “Someone’s going to be making a move, so I’ve got to get off to a fast start, make a few early birdies and take it from there.”

Jack Hume and his Irish team mates Stuart Grehan, Alex Gleeson and Dermot McElroy the European Nations Cup trophy

Naas' Jack Hume took another step nearer the top of the World Amateur Golf Rankings when he cruised to a six-stroke victory in the European Nations Cup in Cádiz.

The 22-year old Walker Cup player, closed with a 75  at La Reserva de Sotogrande to finish six strokes clear of British Amateur champion Romain Langasque of France (72) and Welshman Owen Edwards (74) on three under par 285.

Jack Hume and Emma Spitz

Ranked 21st in the world, it was Hume's second win in the space of three weeks following his victory in the South African Amateur Strokeplay and looks set to catapult him into the top 15.

Ireland also won the European Nations Cup team title by 10 strokes from France on 882 with Wales third on 895, England (906) fourth and Scotland (908) fifth.

Alex Gleeson (76) was 18th on 303 withDermot McElroy (77) tied 19th, Stuart Grehan 76) 22nd.

Spain won the women's team title by eight shots from Austria and by 10 from France with Austria's Emma Spitz (296) edging out Spain's Maria Parra by two shots for the individual title.

2016 European Nations Cup, La Reserva de Sotogrande, Cádiz

• Men’s Team
• Men’s individual
• Women’s team
• Women’s team

European Tour — Cormac Sharvin made an eagle and three birdies in the third round of the ISPS HANDA Perth International.

The bad news is that he also had five bogeys to share 54th place after a level par 72 at Lake Karrinyup Country Club

Louis Oosthuizen added a 67 to Friday's brilliant 64 to lead by three strokes on 12 under par from  American Peter Uihlein and France's Romain Wattel

Oosthuizen briefly opened up a five-shot advantage on the back nine but two late bogeys - after going 40 holes without a dropped shot - left the door ajar for the chasing pack.

"I think anyone will expect to win, but there's a lot of golf to be played," said Oosthuizen. "You need to still hit the shots. Around this golf course especially, someone can go three, four under in the first five holes and it changes everything.

"I played pretty solid the last two rounds, I drove it beautifully. Today was not great off the tee, but iron play was pretty good. The putter is behaving. I'm reading the greens very well and I feel like I'm making great strokes. I'm looking forward to tomorrow." 

Scores

Ladies European Tour — Carlow's Rebecca Codd shot a seven over 81 in tough conditions to share 70th spot after three rounds in the RACV Ladies Masters.The LET veteran is 12 over par and a long way behind Korea Jiyai Shin, whose 71 gave her a two shot lead over England's Holly Clyburn (72) and Sweden's Camilla Lennarth (75) on 10 under.

Amateur golf — Duke University sophomore Leona Maguire has been named one of six amateur golfers that have accepted invitations to play in the LPGA ANA Inspiration at the Dinah Shore Tournament Course in California from March 28 to April 3.

The world amateur No 1 from Cavan joins world No 2 Hannah O’Sullivan, Sierra Brooks, Karen Chung, Bronte Law and Albane Valenzuela in the field for the Rancho Mirage event.  

The Duke women’s golf team will be competing in the Liz Murphey Collegiate April 1-3 so Maguire will miss the collegiate action in Athens, Georgia.  

Maguire, currently the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world, is listed No. 3 in the latest Golfweek Individual rankings and is coming off a very impressive rookie campaign with the Blue Devils.  

A native of Cavan, Ireland, Maguire was awarded the Mark H. McCormack Medal, 2014-15 ANNIKA Award and WGCA National Player of the Year as a freshman with the Blue Devils. 

She collected a school-record 70.78 stroke average, while notching eight top five and 10 top 10 placements out of 11 tournaments during the 2014-15 campaign. 

The First Team All-America, ACC Player and Rookie of the Year totalled three victories on the season at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate, ACC Championship and the South Bend Regional.  

Maguire will next compete in the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate March 4-6 in Hilton Head, S.C., with the second-ranked Blue Devils.  

Kevin Phelan

Mount Juliet's Kevin Phelan carded a five-under-par 67 on Friday to lie just four shots off the lead in the Eye of Africa PGA Championship on the Sunshine Tour.

The former Walker Cup star made just one bogey and six birdies in a round that got underway late on the Eye of Africa layout following bad weather on the opening day.

“It’s a bit start-stop out there,” he said. “You kind of lose your rhythm a bit. But I feel like I played pretty well in each session, I guess. I just tried to get something going and then keep going. I’m not sure that getting round two done without any breaks necessarily helped me get the 67 today.

“It was very tidy out there. I didn’t really waste many shots. It was good. I just made the one bogey, when my hand slipped on the club on the seventh because of sweat, and then I couldn’t get it up and down.

“The course is really good. The greens are lovely – really smooth and with a nice pace. With the rain, the greens are pretty soft so you can be quite aggressive into almost all of the pins. There’s the odd one you have to stay away from, but by and large you can just go for it.”

Phelan played in the 2010 US Open at Pebble Beach and again in 2013 US Open Championship while still an amateur, making the cut at Merion Golf Club. Later that year he played in the Walker Cup and won two points from three, and made his professional debut in the KLM Open in September, again making the cut.

 

South Africa's Danie van Tonder shot a 66 to lead by one from compatriot Andrew Curlewis on 11 under par with be' Kruger and Jaco Van Zyl tied third on nine under.

Phelan was tied for seventh at halfway but Gavin Moynihan missed the cut by just two shots after battling back from an opening 77 with a solid 69.

Royal Dublin's Jeff Hopkins also missed out, following a 79 with a 72 to finish on seven over. 

Live scores

Jack Hume (Ireland) shows his skills on the final day of the 2015 Home International Matches at Royal Portrush Golf Club. Picture by Pat Cashman

Jack Hume added a third round 74 to scores of 72 and 64 to take a commanding seven-shot lead into Saturday's final round of the European Nations Cup in Spain.

The talented Naas man leads on six under par 210 from Welshman Owen Edwards (76 73 68/217) with British Amateur champion Romain Langasque (75 75 69/219) and Scotland's Robert MacIntyre (70 80 69/219) tied third on three over.

Ballymena's Dermot McElroy (77 79 71/227) and Castle's Alex Gleeson (74 78 75/227) are tied 18th in the individual standings at La Reserva de Sotogrande with Stuart Grehan of Tullamore/NUIM is joint 25th on 229 after rounds of 72, 86 and 71.

In the race for the team title, Hume's brilliance means that Ireland has an 11 stroke lead on 655 from France with Wales 17 behind on 672.

• Team scores
• Individual scores

Graeme McDowell and his wife, Kristin, at the birth of daughter Vale Esme in August 2014. Picture @graeme_mcdowell

Graeme McDowell is hoping the “nappy factor” will kick in for him later this season revealing: “We’ve got a baby boy on the way.”

The 36-year old Portrush native and his American wife Kristin Stape are expecting the birth of their second child — a boy — at the end of August.

“We just found out around the New Year and we waited until we had all the blood tests and then the scan last Tuesday before we started to let people know,” McDowell said after his second round at the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens in Florida, where he is tied for 20th on level par.

“He’s looking good. He’s a big boy. Looks like he’s going to be able to hit it 330! We’re thrilled with the news.”

Father and daughter

McDowell married interior designer Kristin Stape in the Bahamas in January 2013 and their daughter, Vale Esme, was born on August 25th 2014.

Her birth by caesarean section came just weeks before the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles but while Europe won, McDowell’s  hope for the traditional golfer’s upturn in form to coincide with the new arrival never materialised.

He joked: “Maybe it will kick in this time. But obviously we are very excited and Mum is doing well. 

“It’s going to be dial-a-baby with a C-section the Monday of the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston and that’s exactly when we had Vale.

“We don’t get much time off as golfers but maybe that’s just as well or I’d have 10 kids. 

“Being a Dad has been amazing and we are very excited about the good news.”

As for the nappy factor, G-Mac joked: “It didn’t work for me last time.” 

Told the baby factor kicks in for male athletes if the child is a boy, he said: “I like that. That sounds good. We can’t wait.”

Jack Nicklaus and his wife Barbara with US Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III and a selection of American players.

Graeme McDowell fears Europe are due a heavy "beating" sooner rather than later but for Pádraig Harrington, Wednesday's US Ryder Cup team bonding exercise at Jack Nicklaus' Palm Beach home was a compliment to Europe's recent success.

Far from making fun of US efforts to bond more following three successive European wins — and six in the last eight editions — Harrington sees American desperation as a good thing

"We have made the U.S. guys care, and they really care,” Harrington said after shooting a Friday morning 68. “I saw the guys after the last loss. The older guys were seriously devastated. I can’t tell you how much you could see the devastation of losing. It is a huge deal to Phil and Jim Furyk and guys like that. Wow, were they cut up about losing which is testament to a great event. Everybody cares. It is no longer an exhibition."

Graeme McDowell inadvertently revealed that US captain Davis Love III was planning on holding get together at chez Nicklaus and he wishes he could have been there.

"I did say to Davis, I’d like to have gone to that dinner," McDowell said with a smile. "That would have been pretty cool to go to Jack’s house and have some dinner. It is exciting for the Ryder Cup, which has gone from strength to strength. It is fuelling the fire for what is a very special golf tournament.  The four Ryder Cups I've played in are very special to me and I’d like to play a fifth and a sixth."

Like Harrington, McDowell sees the US meeting as a sign that they badly want to win back the Ryder Cup for the first time since the 2008 win at Valhalla, where McDowell made his debut.

"You only have to look at the leaderboards and it is not hard to see who the favourites are this year," McDowell said. "They have an incredible team when you look and Rickie and Jordan and Brooks Koepka and Dustin and all these guys playing as well as they are playing.

"We are going to go in as underdogs, just the way we like it. It is such a great tournament and it can only build the tournament, win, lose or draw.

"To be honest, there so little difference the captain can make to the team. These last few Ryder Cups have come down to small percentages and putting.

"Davis did a phenomenal job at Medinah and it was a miracle we came back. He will do a great job but I feel there is a US beating coming down the road and hopefully we can delay that as long as possible because they are awfully good."

Harrington does not believe that it is impossible for the Americans to reproduce Europe's sense of camaraderie. But he does admit that it comes easier to the Europeans given the physical nature of the European Tour itself.

"The European Tour is different in the sense we travel en masse, we stay in places all together and share cars and buses to and from golf course. 

"When I played at home the last two summers, I was shocked how much I had missed the social side of everybody going out in a group at night. The Irish go with the Irish, the English with the English. It is just more of a social entity.

"If you go to a new venue or city in Europe, you must go and ask somebody where to go and eat. You don't get a car and drive down the road and see a strip mall. Over here you know exactly the kind of experience you are going to get every time you cross the threshold of a restaurant. In Europe, you'd better ask. The likely answer is, we're going here, why don't you join us.' You can't order room service, it is going to be cold, so you have to go out."

Harrington sees no reason why the Americans can't reproduce this sense of bonding.

"Look, at the end of the day, these results are circumstantial. 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."

Harrington believes the US will be "exceptionally strong" this time. 

"It is a big ask for the European team," he said before adding with a laugh, "We are playing for the underdog's role again!"

Skipper Davis Love and around 25 players, including the injured Tiger Woods, turned up to hear Nicklaus speak to them at his home.

Jimmy Walker revealed: “I only talked to Tiger for just a couple of seconds and said to him ‘Whoah! You’re standing up and you’re not dead!’ 

“Tiger responded: ‘That’s how everybody thinks I am now, dead!

“So it was good to see he made the effort to be there but when and if he comes back, well we didn’t talk about that.  It was just great to see him there in the room with everyone.”

Rory McIlroy

Rory McIlroy might have missed this first cut for nine months in the Honda Classic but Pádraig Harrington still insisted he’d love to have the world No 3’s ball-striking brilliance with just 40 days to go to the Masters.

The Dubliner isn’t even in the field for Augusta National but as he staged a remarkable second round comeback alongside McIlroy and Zach Johnson to survive the 36-hole guillotine, he refused to push any panic buttons over the state of the Co Down man’s game.

McIlroy was poor around the greens and made a double and a triple bogey in a second successive 72 to miss the cut by one stroke on four over par.

That’s no big deal as far as Harrington is concerned though McIlroy clearly has a fraught relationship with PGA National having won the event in 2012, walked off after 26 holes in 2013, lost in a playoff in 2014 and then missed the cut last year.

“He struck the ball well, hit the ball very nicely,” said Harrington, who admitted he was reaching for his mobile phone to book his own flight home after starting his round with a bogey and a double bogey to slip from three to six over par.

“Over the years people would say Rory doesn’t like playing in the wind. Well, he looked well capable of doing it this week. 

“I don’t think either myself or Zach Johnson would mind playing golf like Rory played golf this week.”

The Dubliner didn’t stick his neck out for McIlroy’s putting and that was no surprise as it was mediocre.

The four-time major winner racked up 30 putts as he made a double bogey five at the 15th, his sixth, and a triple bogey six at his 14th hole after failing to pull off an ambitious recovery from a water hazard.

“If anything, he overplayed a couple of shots,” Harrington said, referring to the laser-like tee shot at the fifth that ended up in the hazard from where McIlroy tried an audacious recovery and ended up rebounding from the rock face into the water. Triple. 

“He hit them too well through the wind and that happens at times. It looked like he played all the right shots.”

Harrington was being more than kind but while he played many of the right shots himself, there were few good ones on the greens from Shane Lowry, who had 33 putts in a five over par 75 to slip 10 shots behind leader Rickie Fowler on two over par.

The Clara man was on the back foot from the time he bogeyed the 10th and 11th and then three putted the 14th for a double bogey six to slip to one over for the tournament.

While he recovered with birdies at the 15th and 18th, his three over par homeward nine was disappointing as he toiled with the putter and every mistake meant a dropped shot.

At the other end of the leaderboard, world No 5 Fowler carded a second successive 66 to lead by a stroke from Jimmy Walker (66) on eight under par with Sergio Garcia (69) a shot further back on six over. Australian Adam Scott shot 65 to finish the day alone in fourth on five under.

A bogey-par-bogey finish for a two 68 left Harrington a little deflated but having opened with a three over 73 and then soared to six over by following a bogey at the his first hole of the day with a double bogey six after a visit to water at his second, Harrington wasn’t complaining too loudly.

The Dubliner spent Thursday evening on the putting green experimenting with a new set-up that ended up paying dividends.

“It’s hard to believe I am disappointed,” Harrington, who holed 90 feet of putts as he birdied the 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th and 18th to turn in two under.

“I was reaching for the phone to change my flight as I was heading for the 12th tee,” he said with a grin. "Then I forgot about it.”

A change in his putting set up — he decided overnight to hover his putter higher than normal — looked to be a failure after the first two holes. Then everything changed. 

“I missed one form four feet on the 10th and hit a decent second into 11 and ended up in the water and lipped out with the chip for par,” he said. “Then I started holing the putts I haven't been holing for ages.

“If you make seven birdies you are going to hole some putts. I didn’t have myself fin any trouble all the way through to my last four holes when I lost my rhythm. I think I ran out of steam. Unfortunately  think I was thinking of getting to the clubhouse at that stage.”

Graeme McDowell ground out a 69 to make the cut on level par and give himself chance of remaining inside the Top 10 in the FedEx Cup standings who qualify for next week’s WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral.

Needing a decent finish there to have any chance of making the Top 64 in the world who qualify of the WGC-Cadillac Match Play, McDowell said he was trying to block the mathematical scenarios out of his head.

"It is hard to take your mind off it and I had to consciously make the decision yesterday that I wasn’t going to think about it," McDowell said. 

“I have plenty of golf this season if I don’t manage to get into the Match Play. It is not going to make or break my season. I like what I am doing and what I am seeing on the range and the golf course and if the good stuff gets in the way, then great. If not we will keep plugging along. 

“I saw what panicking does to my game last year and it is not very good. I have just got to let it happen. "

Rebecca Codd

European Tour — Cormac Sharvin made his first cut as a professional in the ISPS Handa Perth International.

A three over 75 wasn't quite the round the Co Down man was looking for but at one under par, he made the cut with a shot to spare at Lake Karrinyup Country Club where Peter Uihlein (65-68) and Brett Rumford (68-65) lead by one from Louis Oosthuizen (70-64) on 11 under par. 

Scores

Paul Dunne added a 72 to his opening 73 to miss the cut by one stroke on one-over par while Michael Hoey's 74 left him seven outside the mark on seven over.

Ladies European Tour — Rebecca Codd added a 77 to her opening 73 to make the cut in the RACV Ladies Masters at the Royal Pines Resort.The Co Carlow golfer had four birdies, five bogeys and a double bogey to make it on the four over par limit. She's 14 behind Sweden's Camilla Lennarth (68-68) and Denmark's Nicole Broch Larsen (67-69) who lead by two from Canada's Brooke Henderson (67-71) and Korea's Jiyai Shin (68-70).Scores

Jack Hume. Picture: Pat Cashman

Jack Hume is on track for his second win in the space of three weeks after an eight under 64 gave him a huge 12-stroke lead at the halfway stage of the European Nations Cup in Spain.

The Walker Cup star from Naas, who closed with a 64 to win the South African Amateur Strokeplay by a shot from Stuart Grehan at the start of February, leads on eight under 134 with Spain's Mario Galiano (71-77) and Xabier Gorospe (75-73) his nearest rivals on four over 148.

Alex Gleeson (74-78/152) lies 12th on eight over heading into Friday's third round with Dermot McElroy (77-79/156) tied 30th and Stuart Grehan 38th (72 -86/158).

As a result of Hume's heroics, Ireland have a 15-stroke lead in the team title race over France with Wales 17 behind in third.

Individual scores

Team scores

Shane Lowry has a glint in his eye at PGA National

Shane Lowry might not win the Honda Classic but if last night’s opening 67 is a taste of what’s to come this season, he may well join that major-winning club.

The 28-year old defied winds gusting up to 30 mph to finish birdie-eagle for a three under 67 worth a share of fifth place behind leader Sergio Garcia and Michael Thompson, who shot a five under 65s to lead by one from William McGirt and Rickie Fowler.

The winds abated somewhat after lunch but the rest of the Irish did not take advantage.

Graeme McDowell shot steady, one over 71 while Rory McIlroy — his short game misfiring — three-putted the 18th from 10 feet for par and a two over 72 and left without comment.

As for defending champion Pádraig Harrington, who played alongside McIlroy, the Dubliner lost a ball up a palm tree and double bogeyed the 10th en route to a 73 that left him in the bottom half of the field.

And so It was Lowry who flew the flag for Irish golf with his stunning morning round and it’s clear the Offaly man has moved up a level with his win in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron last year.

He’s not just backing himself to make the Ryder Cup team the hard way by taking on Europe’s US-based superstars such as McIlroy, Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia and Henrik Stenson for just five spots via the World Points list, he’s confident he has the game to answer the questions in a major.

His opening round on the Champion Course at PGA National was hugely impressive, not just because he conquered a steady crosswind on a water-strewn course, but because he took on the tough shots and pulled them off when others were running for cover.

“It'd it up there in the top 15 rounds of my career,” a beaming Lowry said after mixing an eagle and five birdies with four bogeys. “A 67 out there feels like a 62 or 63 to be honest.”

The highlight of his day was the raking, 243-yard three-iron to the par-five 18th that pitched at the front of the green and finished just three feet from the stick.

“The wind was howling out of the left, “ Lowry explained. “It was a hard 3-iron and tried to not let it go right. I was just trying to get it up somewhere left of the green or somewhere on the left side of the green and thankfully it came off straight at the flag and released down to about three feet. It was a nice way to finish.”

Very classy display by @ShaneLowryGolf to tie the lead @TheHondaClassic The faithful enjoyed his eagle on 18. pic.twitter.com/EaCstUQ8bJ

— Brian Keogh (@IrishGolfDesk) February 25, 2016

Lowry played brilliantly early on and reeled off a hat-trick of birdies from the fourth with a brace of five irons to less than three feet both the fifth and sixth, two of the most spectacular shots you could wish to see.

“It is very instinctive,” he said of playing in the wind. “You get your yardage some advice from your caddie but you know that if you’ve got 190 into the wind, if you hit a hard five iron it will get up and that you need to hit a soft four iron to stay down under the wind.”

Like a summer’s day in Balbriggan, Rob,” he said to his performance coach Robbie Cannon, a member of the north Dublin club, as he strode up to his birdie putt at the fifth with the sun shining and the wind whipping the flags.

He credits performance coach Cannon and his chiropractor, Shane Lawlor, with giving him the physical tools to avoid “lazy swings” and eliminate a hip problem that led to a stock bad shot earlier in his career.

But despite all his early brilliance, he almost threw his round away, three-putting the seventh and eighth for bogeys and then dropping another shot at the tough 10th, where he was forced to lay up after a poor tee shot.

With the Bear Trap ahead, disaster lurked. But Lowry responded by taking on the course and producing a homeward nine of 33.

He didn’t birdie the 11th after a hold-up six iron from 170 yard to 15 feet. But it gave him confidence to finish the round beautifully.

“That was the best shot I hit today, into that crosswind,” Lowry said “Water on the right and you can’t miss left because it is an impossible chip. “

After following missed three footer for birdie at the 12th with a birdie at the 13th and regulation bogey into the wind at the tough 14th — “It was either 3-iron or 5-wood into the wind and the pin looks like it's in a canoe on the right side of the green” — Lowry negotiated the Bear Trap in one under.

The wind was helping at the 17th and with the tee up, he hit a nine iron to 17 feet and made two having played gutsy iron shots to the heart of both the 15th and 16th greens, the latter a nerve-shredding mid-iron over water to 18 feet from a fairway trap.

His eagle finish showed his class but given his ambition, we should not have been surprised.

“I have always had very high expectations of myself,” he said as Phil Mickelson answered questions nearby about a solid opening 69. “I was never going to be a golfer who was happy making a certain about of money a year. 

“I want to go out and try to win tournaments. Obviously the win at Firestone has helped. I know I can do it and I know there is no-one in the field that I fear.”

McIlroy and Harrington went off together in the afternoon but it was a fraught one for the Dubliner, who used binoculars to try and identify his ball at the top of a tall palm tree at the 10th but couldn’t and was forced to retreat to the tee.

He bogeyed the 11th to boot to go four over and did well in the end to sign for a 73 as McIlroy made five birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey six in a rollercoaster 72.

For Harrington, the lost ball was far more painful that the back twinge that forced him out of the Pro-Am and had him on the chiropractor's table in the morning.

“It was a nice tee shot but a little punishing and I am sure it will happen again to another player this week, so the odds of it happening again are very strong,” he said.

“It was disappointing as on a tough day, and a very windy day, you don’t want things going against you. If you get over par it’s always hard on days like today to claw it back."

As for his health, Harrington added: "The back is good. No problems at all. I had a lot of treatment on it, like about four hours this morning before tee off 

“I just had to pressurise it as much as I could during my practice and it definitely cost me a couple of shots out there today not playing a full Pro-Am round yesterday like playing shots from the rough where you get a feel for the course.

“It’s the first time it’s happened it me and it’s just a practice thing and I am not too stressed about it."

World No 3  went out in one over but while he had birdies at the 12th and 13th , he visited three bunkers as he made a double bogey six at the 14th, hitting the face of a fairway bunker and going into another just ahead before putting his third in more sand left of the green.

After a birdie on the 15th, McIlroy foind sand with his approach to the 16th and made another bogey, and the finished his round with a three-putt bogey from 10 feet at the 18th 

Bunkered green side over the back of the green after a 330 yard drive, he splashed out but ran his birdie putt two feet past before missing for par. It was a 32-putt round and needless to say, he was not pressed for comment.

McDowell was not unhappy with his 71 as he made two bogeys and a birdie in a grinding effort.

“A 71 is a pretty decent reflection of my round as I left a few out there and managed to scramble well,” McDowell said.

“But this golf course, as we all know, in a stiff breeze like there was out there today was tough, very tough and while I didn’t make too many mistakes, I just didn’t make enough birdies.

“I had a couple good chances coming but generally happy enough with the way I played. So I’m just heading to the range for a few drills and I’m out of here.”

Thomson and Garcia, who holed a punched eight iron at the second from 148 yards for an eagle two, shot five under 65s to leads by one from William McGirt and Rickie Fowler with Lowry tied fifth with Swede David Lingmerth, Jimmy Walker, George McNeill and Justin Hicks.

"It's great," Garcia said of his start. "Like you said, it is a tough golf course. And with this wind conditions, it doesn't make it any easier. I guess the great thing was that it rained on Tuesday and a little bit yesterday, and we're a little bit lucky on that side to have the course a little bit softer.

"But it's not going to get any easier as the week goes on. It looks like the winds might slow down a little bit, but yeah, it is a challenging golf course."

Stuart Grehan. Picture: Pat Cashman

Amateur golf — Ireland led after the first round of the European Nations Cup at La Reserva de Sotogrande where 12 players did not get to finish Thursday's second round.

When the first round was completed on Thursday morning, the combination of Jack Hume (72), Stuart Grehan (72), Alex Gleeson (74) and Dermot McElroy (discarded 77) were five clear of Spain and seven ahead of Austria and Norway.

Team scores - Individual

Sunshine Tour — Kevin Phelan is tied for 24th with six holes to complete in the weather delayed Eye of Africa PGA Championship.The Mount Juliet touring professional birdied the 10th and 11th and followed up with 10 pars to sit on two under par at Eye Of Africa Signature Golf Estate, six shots behind clubhouse leader Andrew Curlewis.ScoresBut it was a tough start for the other two Irish in the field — Gavin Moynihan and Jeff Hopkins.The Island's Moynihan signed for a five over 77 as Hopkins posted a seven over 79.

When you hand out more than €3.2m to 88 golfers over a 16 year period — €3.38m to 92 golfers if you count the class of 2016 — you can expect a little bang for your buck.

A total of 11 European Tour wins and 12 Challenge Tour victories by 10 golfers over that period is clearly not a total failure. But when one player, Michael Hoey, makes up nearly 35% of the total, it's hard to argue that the Team Ireland Golf Trust system has worked like a dream.

No Team Ireland recipient has ever complained about being handed money to fill out some forms, wear the Team Ireland logo on their sleeve and speak well of the scheme.

After all, Stephen Browne was awarded €135,394 over seven years from 2002 to 2008 and won two Challenge Tour events before being reinstated as amateur a few years ago.

Hoey has won five European Tour titles and three more on the Challenge Tour since he turned professional in 2002, making the €130,394 he's received look like a great investment.

But that's less than a tenth of the total.

Women's professional golf has proved to be a tough nut to crack and while the Team Ireland Golf Trust offers players a range of extras from coaching facilities to medical back up, most players are on the road so often that all they really care about the money.

Despite the name, there is no team element to the Team Ireland Golf Trust and players clearly need more support or guidance as they make the transition from the amateur ranks to the professional game. 

With the Confederation of Golf in Ireland keen to help and with a new golf federation in formation, things may improve and players encouraged to remain amateur for longer before taking the plunge.

The revival of the Challenge Tour event in the Republic has clearly helped with 29 invitations to 2016 events part of this year's scheme. 

How the Team Ireland Golf Trust works

• Criteria
• Guidelines

The Confederation of Golf in Ireland has announced grants totalling €105,000 to 12 aspiring golfers who are pursuing their careers on professional golf tours, writes the GUI.

More than €3.3 million has been provided to golf professionals since the Team Ireland Golf scheme was introduced in 1999. Formerly administered by Sport Ireland, Team Ireland Golf aims to contribute to an increase in the presence of Irish golf professionals on the various international tours.

The total budget for Team Ireland Golf in 2016 is €200,000. The funding for the scheme is provided by Sport Ireland. The budget includes allocations for the GUI Academy and for the ILGU and GUI Performance Managers who work with the golfers on the scheme.

The budget also includes funding for the Irish Challenge event at Mount Wolseley, which will be held from 8-11 September.

This contribution will provide Team Ireland with a number of starts in the event, some of which will be used to trade with overseas events to give Team Ireland players more opportunities on the Challenge Tour.

The two largest allocations in 2016 will go to Paul Dunne and Stephanie Meadow, both of whom will receive €20,000 in funding.

Dunne, a first-time funding recipient, enjoyed a spectacular end to his amateur career in 2015, the highlight being his performance at St Andrews where he led the Open Championship going into the final round.

After winning the Walker Cup with Great Britain & Ireland in September, he went on to win his European Tour card at Q-School and has made a stunning start to his professional career.

Stephanie Meadow will be competing primarily on the Symetra Tour, which is a developmental tour for the LPGA Tour. Meadow made an incredible start to her professional career in 2014 when she secured a third place finish at the US Women’s Open and will hope to qualify for the Olympics this August.

Stephanie Meadow (€20,000) said: “I am so thankful for the continued support of Team Ireland. Their support allows me to train at the highest possible level and prepare to the best of my ability for the season. I am proud to be a part of team Ireland.”

Walker Cup stars Gary Hurley, Gavin Moynihan and Cormac Sharvin are among the new names on the scheme. All three will receive allocations of €5,000 and, more importantly, the CGI has secured seven starts for each of them on the European Challenge Tour as they set out on their professional careers.

Chris Selfridge, who moved into the professional ranks last May, has been allocated €10,000. Selfridge made a bright start to his professional career with a string of fine performances on the European Challenge Tour in 2015.

Waterford man Kevin Phelan enters his third year on the scheme and has been allocated €10,000 as he continues his bid to win back full playing rights on the European Tour.

Ruaidhri McGee, who came close to winning a European Tour Card through the Challenge Tour last season, will be allocated another €10,000 which matches the funding he received in 2015.
Brian Casey, Alan Dunbar Jeff Hopkins and Reeve Whitson will all be in receipt of €5,000 of funding with two Challenge Tour starts available to each player.

Minister of State for Sport and Tourism, Mr Michael Ring TD, welcomed the allocation of the grants, saying: “Irish golf enjoyed a very successful year in 2015 both at amateur and professional level with many outstanding performances by our golfers. We must continue to invest in our emerging golfers in 2016 to sustain this success and maintain a strong Irish presence on international golf tours.

"Team Ireland Golf provides essential support to professional golfers at the start of their tour careers. I want to pay tribute to everyone involved in the scheme, including the GUI, ILGU, the PGA and Sport Ireland, which assist golfers to progress from amateur to professional golf.”
As part of the support package, all golfers can avail of the world class facilities at the GUI’s National Golf Academy.

"The golfers on the scheme also have free access to a network of service providers such as physiologists, sports psychologists, biomechanists, physiotherapists and doctors, all of which is coordinated by the Institute of Sport at Abbotstown."

Redmond O’Donoghue, Chairman of the Board of the Confederation of Golf in Ireland said: “The early years as a professional golfer can be both lonely and costly. We, at the CGI, do everything we can to make this transition as seamless and as painless as possible.

"On behalf of the CGI, I congratulate our emerging golfers, we thank them for representing us so well around the world and we wish them every possible success in the challenging and exciting years that lie ahead.”

John Treacy, CEO of Sport Ireland commented: “The investment by Sport Ireland in the Team Ireland Golf Scheme is essential to assist our top golfers to make the transition from elite amateur to the professional ranks. The support package includes individual grants to golfers and access to the GUI’s National Academy.

"A key component of our investment is financial support for the hosting of a Challenge Tour event in September. It is vitally important that we continue to support our individual golfers to ensure that the game remains healthy and that Ireland has a strong representation in professional tournaments around the world.”

Team Ireland Golf grant allocations 2016 Name Tour Funding

• Paul Dunne European Tour/Challenge Tour €20,000
• Stephanie Meadow Symetra Tour €20,000
• Kevin Phelan European Tour/Challenge Tour €10,000
• Chris Selfridge Challenge Tour €10,000
• Ruaidhri McGee Challenge Tour €10,000
• Gary Hurley Challenge Tour €5,000 + 7 CT Starts
• Gavin Moynihan Challenge Tour €5,000 + 7 CT Starts
• Cormac Sharvin Challenge Tour €5,000 + 7 CT Starts 
• Brian Casey Challenge Tour €5,000 + 2 CT Starts
• Alan Dunbar Europro Tour €5,000 + 2 CT Starts
• Jeff Hopkins Sunshine Tour €5,000 + 2 CT Starts
• Reeve Whitson EPD Tour €5,000 + 2 CT Starts

Total €105,000

 

Cormac Sharvin during his amateur days.

Ardglass rookie Cormac Sharvin showed his true potential after a stuttering start to his professional career by firing an opening four under 68 for a share of fifth place in the ISPS HANDA Perth International.

As American Peter Uihlein put his recent injury troubles behind him to take a one-shot lead with a seven under 65, Sharvin put a brace of missed cuts in PGA Australasian Tour events behind him by making seven birdies in an impressive opening round at Lake Karrinyup Country Club.

“It was a great round of golf in my first European Tour event,” Sharvin said. “It was really nice to post a nice number and see my name on the leaderboard with names I am usually watching on TV.

“I played a couple of events out here earlier this month and they were my first events since Walker Cup so I wasn’t there competitively and I was making silly mistakes and thought that if I get a bit of experience, my game will come and I will get more competitive.

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“I got here last Thursday and I’ve been fresh, staying with one of my friends, Paul Dunne.”

Sharvin, who has signed with management company IMG, admitted that seeing what Dunne has done early in his career has been good for his own confidence. 

“When you see someone at your level as an amateur doing what they have done at The Open and at the start of their European Tour career, it definitely gives me confidence,” he said. 

“I have got roughly nine Challenge Tour starts and hopefully a few on the main tour, fingers crossed.

“I don’t have big expectations but I know if I play well, I can compete.”

Paul Dunne had two birdies and three bogeys in a one over 73 while Michael Hoey failed to make a birdie in a five over 77.

But there was no stopping Sharvin, who was left to regret a double bogey seven at the 15th.

Leader Uihlein, meanwhile, missed consecutive cuts on the Desert Swing before withdrawing from the Omega Dubai Desert Classic with a wrist problem.

But the 26-year old returned to action in Malaysia last week and secured a top ten finish before firing a seven under par 65 to take a one-shot advantage over Romain Wattel and Shiv Kapur.

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Devastated is too strong a word but Shane Lowry confessed that he’ll be “very disappointed” indeed if he fails to make Darren Clarke’s Ryder Cup team this year.

While the high expectations of others are always dangerous, Lowry knows himself well and having elevated himself to the top table in golf with his World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational victory last year, he’s not only hungry for more success, he's almost expecting it.

Focussing on “the process” rather than the result is one of those psychobabble terms players use to describe how they take pressure off themselves on the golf course.

Lowry runs a mile from the kind of talk but he knows that as the current world No 23 (he rose as high as, he’s expected to be on the plane to Hazeltine in Minnesota in September.

“I know,” said the sixth highest ranked European in the world with a wry smile. “I know people expect me to make the team and I think I will be very disappointed myself if I am not on the team this year. That’s obvious. It’s the same for any player who is up there in the world rankings. You know you have a chance to make it.”

Lowry hasn’t always dealt well with high expectations and struggled to get into the right frame of mind for last year’s Open Championship at St Andrews, having gone there with his hopes (and those of half of Ireland) sky high following his Top 10 finish in the US Open.

But this is a new Lowry. He’s comfortable in his skin, as he showed when egging on the crowd with his antics on the 16th green in Phoenix last month.

“People have expectations and you learn over the years to deal with them," he said as he prepared to make his debut in the Honda Classic alongside Brian Harman and 2014 winner Russell Henley. 

“Five years ago, if I was in the same position, it would have been different and I would have been more anxious to get off to a good start this year. I would have been doing my schedule around trying to make the team. 

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“For me, I am just doing my schedule this year by looking at what tournaments I want to play in and where can I do well. If I do that and do other things well, like preparing properly and doing things right, I will give myself the best chance to make the team.”

Having secured his PGA Tour card last year, Lowry is playing some venues for the first time and as he is not ranked high enough in the PGA Tour’s complex pecking order for Pro-Am participation, he dodges between rains storms to play 18 holes on the Champion Course at PGA National on Tuesday.

Sodden and defenceless due to the lack of wind, the course presents no real challenge to Lowry late in the afternoon as he peppers the pin through the Bear Trap holes — the 15th, 16th and 17th.

“It's just a tough golf course," he said of PGA National, which hosted the US PGA in 1987. “It’s there in front of you, you just have to play well. It is a proper tough golf course.”

“There are always four or five holes every week where you say, I will take four pars and I will be happy with that. On this course, I think there are a couple more than that like the sixth and the Bear Trap holes. There are probably eight holes where you would take pars. 

“If you play the sixth in par, the 15th in par and 17th in par, you are gaining shots on the field. Anyway, I like tough courses. I do alright on them.”

Having played well in the EurAsia Cup in January and then finished 13th in the Farmers Insurance Open, sixth in the Waste Management Phoenix Open and 41st in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Lowry is happy with his start to 2016 but looking for two good weeks in Florida with next week’s WGC - Cadillac Championship at Trump Doral a venue he likes.

“The Eurasia Cup was great and Darren was very good for us,” Lowry said. “I really enjoyed it. One thing he did great, he made the caddies very involved. There was a big team in there. It was great fun. 

“The one thing Darren will do in the Ryder Cup is look after the players. And he was great the way he did his pairings. I loved playing with Sully [Andy Sullivan].

“I was very happy with my the first three weeks over hear about from struggling a bit with the greens in Pebble Beach, losing a bit of confidence on the first day at Monterey where the greens weren’t great.

“I went out for the first week at Torrey Pines having not played for six or eight weeks  and with no expectations and I reversed into a very good finish by playing well in that bad weather.

“Then the following week in Phoenix, I went out and I was leading after the first round and I don’t think I’ve ever been leading after round one. So that’s another thing to tick off the list of firsts. 

“I loved Phoenix. The 16th was very intimidating the first couple of days but this year for me, I am playing a lot of tournaments I’ve never played before, like this week, so it’s about getting to know them. 

“The plan is to just go out and contend and try to get a win or close to a win, which I felt was very close in Phoenix.

“I just played my back nine on Saturday and my front nine on Sunday really poorly. But the other 54 holes I played well enough to win. So it is about cleaning that up a little bit.”

The Masters is six weeks away but while Lowry is not yet thinking about Augusta National, he’s confident he will have no issues to deal with there, despite missing the cut on his debut last year.

“I have all my flights and accommodated planned but I am not thinking about the Masters yet, no. I felt like I plated really poorly there last year and drove the ball really badly. 

“Since then I have driven the ball really well so if I can do that this year,  I will be okay.”

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Rory McIlroy insists he’d prefer to be streaky as a putter and a player than a pedestrian plodder.

As he prepared to chase his first win of the year in the Honda Classic, the world No 3 confessed that he has all but accepted that he’s not going to putt well every week, or even contend, as his all out attacking style sometimes backfires.

“I've almost accepted the fact that I'm probably going to be a streaky putter, which is fine,” said McIlroy, whose record in the Honda Classic is as streaky as his putting. 

“It's served me well up until this point; when I'm on, I hole putts and it's good. And when I don’t, in the weeks I struggle to hole putts, I still feel like I’ve got a good chance to win.”

Having finished 13th, 40th and 70th before winning to become world No 1 in 2012, McIlroy walked off the course amid managerial problems the following year, lost in a playoff in 2014 and then missed the cut for the first time last season.

Asked if his record was a reflection of the nature of the water-strewn, windblown course, he shook his head and joked: “I think it’s the nature of me.”

While he slipped from contention to tied 20th following a closing 75 in the Northern Trust Open at Riviera last week, undone by his putting and course management as he was forced to chase, McIlroy is looking forward to having another chance to win.

“I was looking good for most of the week last week and had a bad finish, but I feel like my game’s there,” he said. “And that’s the great thing about golf… there’s always next week.”

He’s prepared to attack every week and accept failures if he can win even 20 percent of the time. And he’s got the same attitude to putting.

“For me, putting, it’s a bit of a journey, trying to figure out how I’m thinking and what I'm feeling when I putt well and what I’m maybe feeling and thinking when I don’t putt so well,” he said.

“I feel like technique-wise, I'm able to start the ball on line. I feel like I can read greens pretty well. So I think it's more of a mental thing.

“There’s some putts I stand over that I know I'm going to hole. And there's some putts I stand over that I just feel uncomfortable and you know that you're just not. So I think mostly it's all mental for me.”

Winning is McIlroy’s barometer of progress but with four events till to go before the Masters, he’s focussing on getting wins rather than specific preparation for Augusta.

Prepared to accept that he’ll lose more often than he wins, he said: ”I feel like the way I play, especially with the aggressiveness of my play, there are going to be times when it won’t always work out good for me and I've accepted that.

"Golf for me is all about 22 weeks in a year. If I were to have five wins in that run but then also 10 missed cuts you have to be pretty happy."

McIlroy is scheduled to tee off with defending champion Padraig Harrington and Open winner Zach Johnson but the Dubliner’s preparations were upset by a back problem that forced him to withdraw from yesterday morning’s Pro-Am on the third hole.

The 44-year old did not want to risk doing himself further damage and while he underwent physiotherapy, he was not considered likely to withdraw.

Harrington needs a win to qualify for the Masters but for former US Open champion Graeme McDowell is playing the next two events hoping to clinch his place in the field for the WGC-Cadillac Matchplay.

Ranked 73rd in the world knowing he must make the top 64 after Doral next week, he said: “Of course, I want to qualify for the Match Play but then a good result this week and next week will take care of that.”

La Reserva

Six hours weren't enough for the men to complete opening round of the European Nations Cup at La Reserva de Sotogrande in Cádiz.

While the women started first and got finished despite battling high winds, tricky greens and tough pins, not all the men got round the tough Spanish venue before darkness fell.

Three of the four Irishmen in action did manage to complete their rounds with Stuart Grehan posting a level par 72, Alex Gleeson a two over 74 and Dermot McElroy a 77 while Jack Hume was one over with three holes to go and will resume his round from 8.30am on Thursday.

In the women's event, Mathilda Cappeliez of France shot a 73 to share top spot with Luna Sobrón of Spain and lead by one stroke from compatriot Anais Meysonnier.

As a result, France lead the team standings from Spain and England, for who, Samantha Giles (76) and Sophie Lamb (78) posted the counting scores.

Women's individual scores | Team scores

Men's tee times Rd2

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Only Pádraig Harrington could mention Ray Clemence, Pat Jennings, the yips and being hustled out of a pound by an older brother 30 years ago and still keep a room full of cynical hacks enthralled for 45 minutes.

As he prepared to defend the Honda Classic at PGA National this week, the 44-year old is clearly an elder statesman of the game, going as far as to lament the decline in the art of hustling.

Daniel Berger, last year’s PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, admits to becoming another of the Stackstown man’s acolytes having being taken under his wing since losing out to him on the second extra hole of a playoff last year.

“I think of Pádraig like a friend,” Berger said with a grin. “I've been out to dinner with him probably five or ten times since then. He doesn't let it go; he'll let me know every time that he won the Honda Classic.”

Like Shane Lowry and newcomer Paul Dunne, losing money to Harrington in credit card roulette in the restaurant or around the chipping green, is a rite of passage.

Harrington believes it’s crucial to remember that he double bogeyed the 71st hole last year and still went on to win.

No disaster, no matter how definitive it seems, is as bad as you might think.

“We are all led to believe that you can’t hit disaster shots, but it’s not true, you can,” Harrington said, recalling how Rory McIlroy found water on the 71st hole in Dubai and Graeme McDowell had several doubles on the first hole in the OHL Classic in Mexico last year and still won. 

“You might not get away with it but you can recover."

The classic example, of course, is Harrington’s first major win in the 2007 Open at Carnoustie, where he got up and down for a six on the 72nd hole and went on to beat Sergio Garcia in a playoff.

It’s the kind of thing that Harrington’s idol would have done in his heyday.

Asked his heroes as a 12 year old, he said: “Ray Clemence, the goal keeper. I was interested in football. Pat Jennings.”

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Smiling at the blank looks amongst the assembled media, he added: “As regards golf, it would have been Bernhard Langer. Why? He was the professional’s professional. Got the most out of his game. Came back from the yips twice. That's just unheard of.”

Harrington admits that he may never recover fully from the yips but like a late double bogey, he sees no reason why they have to be utterly fatal for him as a competitor.

“I don't think you ever fully come back from it, no,” he said when asked if he was over the dreaded heebie-jeebies. “But certainly I feel a lot better on the greens, a lot less stress knocking in 2- and 3-footers. 

“It has not quite cleared up, but I'm pretty positive about it all, and I see some good signs going ahead. A lot less work involved on the greens for me at the moment.”

Harrington — who is joined in the field by Lowry, Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell — likes what he sees from Berger but laments that too many of the new breed lack the kind of hustler’s grit that was imbued in him as the youngest of five brothers.

“If you want to be a professional golfer out here, really you've got to ultimately learn to hustle a bit, and he has that," Harrington explained. “He’s a fighter and if he hits a bad shot, he'll try and get it up-and-down. 

"He won't worry about the bad shot, and you kind of get that when you're competing a lot and out there. The word we would use is hustle. 

“That's kind of missing in golf nowadays. Everything is ordered. It's all academies and things like that.

“A lot of the reason why Irish golf has done well is we were always brought up playing matches, playing games, competing. 

“I don't think I ever spent a day in my golf club where I wasn't trying to win something off somebody. You know, that ultimately gets the focus.

“The best practice I do out here on tour is when the other Irish guys are out here, and a few other guys if I can, I play chipping contests, and it's all about the competitive edge. I think Daniel has that, I've got to say. He has that sort of attitude out there. He likes the fight, which is a good place to be if you want to be a professional golfer.”

Harrington’s mental toughness came naturally. He’s the youngest of five boys.

Young Pádraig at Stackstown in the 1980s.

“I learned my hustle at Stackstown Golf Club competing with my brothers, competing with my friends,” he said.

“I remember one story - playing against my brother, Columb, in a game. I was just coming to the stage where I was able to beat him. He’s nine years older, so maybe I was around 14 years of age, and we were playing for a pound. It was back in the 80s, but it was enough.

“And the fifth hole, I've got like this little putt to go 1-up, and just as I'm about to take it, he says, ‘Oh, it's a pity there are no more birdie holes.’

“As I'm standing over this, I'm thinking, ‘But the par 5 is reachable in two and I'm going make birdie on that one.’ 

“Of course I was thinking about the 7th and missed the putt. He completely put off to take me out, distracted me. 

“That pound note hung in my mother's kitchen, I should say, for probably 20 years. So I looked at that; that was the last pound he won off me, and it was pinned on the wall for 20 years.”

Few players enjoy the banter of hustling more than Harrington though he believes Phil Mickelson is the king of the modern tour players.

"If you're allowed talk, you'd probably give it to Phil Mickelson," he said of his close friend. "In terms of pure being able to give verbal out there in a friendly game, obviously you can't do that in a competitive game, Phil is pretty good at hustling and bustling his competitors.

"In terms of physically on the golf course, we all let our clubs do the talking on the golf course. I think over the years, even against Daniel when I went home, everybody said I won the playoff when I shook hands with him, as in -- whatever they were saying, they were saying like I had used my eyes in some way to intimidate him in shaking his hand. I was just shaking his hand and wishing him good luck, but it's amazing how people read into things like that."

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Pádraig Harrington has all but admitted that he will be a Ryder Cup backroom boy for Darren Clarke in September.

As he prepared to defend his Honda Classic title at PGA National in Florida this week, the 44-year old conceded that he needs to win at least twice this year to have any chance of winning his sixth Ryder Cup cap as a player in Minnesota

But having acted as an assistant to pal Paul McGinley at Gleneagles two years ago, he admitted that he’s already chatted with 2016 skipper Clarke about filling a crucial backroom role at Hazeltine.

“It’s like the Olympics,” Harrington said of his chances of making Clarke’s team as a player. “If I starting winning and playing well, both the Ryder Cup and the Olympics are on the radar. 

“As much I would like to play in both, they’re long shots, real long shots. So I wouldn’t be putting any money on making the team.

“And if I’m not in the team then I would love to be there as part of Darren’s back room team.

“Yes, I have spoken to him and yes, we have discussed it.”

With Paul Lawrie, José María Olazábal, Thomas Bjorn, Lee Westwood and/or Ian Poulter also believed to be on Clarke’s vice-captaincy short list. Harrington believes he would be called upon to fill gaps that Clarke can’t fill himself.

“I think I am a different personality and will probably bring a slightly different aspect to it,” he said. 

“I am different in that  Darren is emotional and if I am there, I will bring more managerial stuff. He is definitely a front man.”

The three-time major winner has made no secret of the fact that he “would love to be a Ryder Cup captain down the road.”

But in common with his role with McGinley, who banned him from speaking to he press at Gleneagles by telling him, “‘I don't want you going off on any of your weird rants,” he knows that he will be required to remain on message for Clarke.

“I think that is a good thing,” Harrington said. "That’s his position to dictate how the team is seen during the Ryder Cup. He doesn’t want anybody throwing something out there that he has to make a recovery from or explain, even if it is on the good side. 

“It is up to him to be the front man and decide who the image is going to play out in the media, how much he plays at being an underdog or being  favourite. That’s his job to dictate that. The only reason anybody in the backroom team should be speaking should be to toe the party line.” 

As for Clarke’s qualities as a captain, Harrington reckons he will surprise a few people with his meticulousness.

“Darren plays up to being the larger than life guy but behind the scenes he works really hard - a lot harder than people think. 

“He will leave no stone unturned to get a good job done. This big vivacious guy we see is a bit of a front. Behind the scenes, he is a very, very hard worker.”