Royal Dublin’s Max Kennedy wont be an amateur for much longer with the first stage of DP World Tour Q-School on the horizon and he is also weighing up a return to LIV Golf Promotions but dates for the qualifying event have yet to be confirmed.
Kennedy performed well in last December’s inaugural LIV Golf qualifier, narrowly missing out on a place in the final round. Earning status in Europe as a professional is his priority but he could have the LIV option again following his second Arnold Palmer Cup appearance in July while he could also give the Asian Tour a crack.
“I’m going to stay amateur until I get some sort of status on tour. I have Q-School next week in Denmark, first stage and see where it takes me. Hopefully I won’t be there and can win this week!” beamed the 22-year-old after the first round of the Amgen Irish Open in Royal County Down.
Kennedy has spoken of his desire to try his hand at earning a LIV Golf League spot at the next LIV Golf Promotions event but whether he can play in it will remain up in the air if he can progress through DP World Tour Q-School which concludes in November while Asian Tour qualifiers run throughout December.
“Potentially, I’m not sure, I haven’t heard anything about it but first is first DP World Tour and see how it goes. Yeah, it just depends if it fits in my schedule and stuff like that,” said Kennedy who has completed his four year stint in Louisville which included two collegiate victories but he won’t be bidding for a Korn Ferry Tour card this winter.
“No it clashes with the DP World Tour and potentially the Asian Tour they just seem better dates for me so I will do both of them.”
Onto matters at hand, the Dubliner can perhaps secure himself some extra invites with a strong finish in Royal County Down this week.
Kennedy carded a very respectable one-over 72 and when he glanced at the monitor in the score recording hut he saw that he was only three shots off the pace. At the time of writing that gap has stretched to six shots with former Irish Challenge winner Todd Clements five-under through ten holes of his first round.
The 33rd ranked amateur in the world made an electric start to his Irish Open debut with two birdies in his first three holes before a bogey on 4 and double bogey on 5 threatened to unravel his day.
But he came through the tough stretch from the 6th to the 9th with a birdie and a bogey before a birdie on the par-3 10th got him back to par.
Kennedy dropped a shot on the par-3 14th but some excellent pace putting around the greens ensured he made the remainder of the journey home unscathed.
“Today was pretty difficult, we started off and the wind was up and it never died down so you had to have your wits about you because it’s a very difficult course and I think me and my caddie did really well so I was happy about it,” said Kennedy who is part of Shane O’Grady’s talented stable.
“I was one-over on the front but it still wasn’t bad considering how difficult it was, I got off to a great start, two under through three but I knew it would be very difficult. You have to make your bogey when it comes otherwise just make pars and just make it as easy as possible for yourself and I think I did that today so looking forward to tomorrow.”
Kennedy is used to low scoring particularly on the US collegiate circuit but his summer schedule saw him play a lot more links golf in Ireland and it has helped him develop a layer of patience which proved crucial in the tricky conditions.
“It’s funny, out there I was hitting really good golf shots and I was still only level par. Usually if I played as good as I did today you would like to be a couple under but one-over wasn’t a bad score and I am happy with how I played.
“I was extremely comfortable, my playing partners were great, Sam and the French guy, was great we had a very good time.”
Pádraig Harrington and Seamus Power spoke of how they struggled to marry the strong gusts and pace of the greens on Thursday morning, but distance putting was a standout quality for Kennedy on the day.
“My pace putting was extremely good, I had a lot of tap in for pars so that was the biggest thing today I would say.”
Kennedy was part of an all-Irish fourball on Monday with Harrington, Seán Keeling and Conor Purcell and he enjoyed picking the brains of the 53-year-old three time major winner.
“He’s a great man! We had a very good time and he was really helpful, gave loads of tips. Hard to get him to stop when he starts! He gave some good life advice, more in the future stuff, keep at it, don’t give up, keep trying to get better every day and don’t compare yourself to others who may be in a different situation, it was really that simple.”