Irish Open - It's party time
BY Bruce Young | European PGA Tour | 2011 Irish Open | Preview | 28 Jul 2011
In the very unlikely event of the Irish Open at the Killarney Golf and Fishing club being restricted to those only from Eire then the field assembled this week would still have been very strong.
That will not, of course, be the case when this week’s event gets underway but it is a statement which reflects the amazing strength of Irish golf at present.
The Killeen course at Killarney was first built in 1972 although in the mid 2000’s it underwent major changes under the eye of Tom McKenzie and was opened in 2006. It has previously hosted two Irish Opens before its return to the tournament scene last year, the last of which had come in 1992 when Nick Faldo won the second of his three consecutive Irish Open titles.
They might not all be from the south which is the area known as Ireland but when it comes to golf then the north and the south unite as one and this week will see four recent Irish major champions come together for what promises to be not only a golf tournament but a celebration.
With Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke having won two of the three PGA Championships to date in 2011 and Graeme McDowell and Padraig Harrington also major championship winners in recent years then this week’s event will provide the public of Ireland the opportunity to acknowledge the feats of their world beaters.
It should be quite special and throw into the mix the Killeen course at the Killarney Golf and Fishing Club in the very south and west of Ireland and the recipe exists for one of the great weeks in Irish golfing history.
McIlory has played only the once since his stunning US Open victory and although he was perhaps disappointing at the Open Championship it was perhaps not unexpected given the circumstances and his lack of tournament play. He should do better this week.
Graeme McDowell is not at his best at present with just the one top ten in his last 12 starts and will need the inspiration of the occasion to feature it would seem.
Darren Clarke might still be overcoming the effects of his celebrating his magnificent win at Royal St Georges but he played well enough in this event at this venue last year and could do well.
Harrington was runner-up to Ross Fisher last year but although there have been glimpses of form this year he is perhaps not at the level he was twelve months ago. Interestingly enough he finished runner-up here last year after missing the cut at the Open the week prior which he also did two weeks ago.
The defending champion Ross Fisher is also not playing as well as last year but this is clearly a golf course which could be enough to inspire him to better things.
Richard Green played well at Killarney last year and comes off a good effort at the recent Open Championship where he finished as the leading Australian in 16th position. He has often played well on the same course each year in other tournaments so another good tournament this week would not surprise.
Other Australasians in the field are former winner Michael Campbell, Marcus Fraser, Brett Rumford, Scott Hend, Scott Strange, Daniel Gaunt, Wade Ormsby, Andrew Dodt, Matthew Zions and Mark Brown.
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