Pádraig Harrington told Seán Keeling on Monday to remain resilient this week and he did just that as he battled courageously to make the cut at the Amgen Irish Open on his tour debut.
Keeling’s idol Rory McIlroy admitted that it was amazing to see the seventeen-year-old doing so well at Royal County Down and the Roganstown star has designs on upstaging the four-time major winner over the weekend.
“He was someone I looked up to for a long time. I’m trying to beat him now!” smiled Keeling who at the time of writing is the fourth Irishman of eleven to make the cut and just four shots behind McIlroy on level-par.
After lighting up the opening day of the tournament with seventeen straight pars and a birdie on 18, Keeling continued in similar fashion, starting with two pars before birdieing the par-5 12th.
The teenager was desperately unlucky to lip out for birdie on 13 and then he hit his first rocky patch of the week, missing five successive greens as the bogeys came like buses, not getting up and down from the green side bunker on 14, 15 and a poor lay-up cost him a shot on the 18th.
Dreaming of becoming the first amateur since Shane Lowry in 2009 to win the Irish Open, Keeling was now facing a battle to make the cut and a crucial birdie on the 1st steadied the ship albeit briefly as he handed the shot back on the 2nd.
But Keeling showed a maturity beyond his years to finish strong with six pars and a birdie on the 6th all adding up to a respectable round of 72 leaving him inside the top-40 and still only five shots behind leaders Todd Clements and Laurie Canter.
“Yes, a few mistakes on the front nine sort of put me under pressure going into the back nine but I steadied the ship a bit and handled it well,” Keeling explained. “I made some key putts on six and seven, so overall I was pretty good apart from those few mistakes on the front nine. It felt like it could have been a bit better but happy enough to be playing the weekend.
“On the tough holes I hit some solid shots, into the middle fo the green, and made a lot of nice pars. I definitely handled the conditions well and played a lot of decent golf.”
Lingering around the cut line on the back nine on Friday isn’t an experience Keeling will want to become too familiar with when he eventually turns professional and he still hasn’t given up hope that he can launch a charge this weekend although conditions are set to worsen significantly on Saturday which will force him to play away from his aggressive style.
“I am going to enjoy those conditions, embrace it rather than get annoyed about it. I am happy to be through and to have a chance at the weekend,” he added.
“The way I played the last few days I feel I could very easily be four or five shots better, so if I can play like that again I will hopefully get a few breaks go my way and if I can hole a few putts you never know what can happen.
“But around here you need to be disciplined and Pádraig (caddie) is good at helping me with that. Playing away from pins, get a good game plan off the tee and I felt like I wasn’t in any trouble at all all day. You have got to be smart around here.”
Keeling is a product of the Made in Holywood Golf Academy in Roganstown Golf Club which has allowed him to spend some time with McIlroy’s long-time coach Michael Bannon.
McIlroy played the first 36 holes this week alongside Holywood club mate Tom McKibbin and as the years tick on, the 35-year-old knows he is going to be the idol and potential father figure for the next crop of Irish youngsters.
“Michael Bannon has spent some time with Sean as well. And I was hitting balls beside him the other day on the range,” McIlroy said.
“I remember Tom came here to watch me in 2015 at the Irish Open. He was playing at some US Kids event over in England, and they got the boat back and came and watched me.
“So it’s very cool. It makes me feel a bit old, but I’ve got the on my chin hairs in my chin to prove it.
“But it’s amazing to think that I’ve had some sort of influence on these guys that are now at the of their professional journey. Sean’s not even professional yet, but, you know, the start of their journeys of trying to make a career in golf.
“I had my heroes that I looked up to, and it’s cool to hear that I’m that for some of those guys now.”