Tip-toeing around Royal County Down isn’t going to do much for your mental health but it might just keep you in the golf tournament.
156 players are competing in this year’s Amgen Irish Open and out on the links you could almost hear the inner voices chirping away.. ‘just don’t shoot yourself out of contention on day one’.
Unheralded Englishman, Todd Clements, leads the way on five under par from Finland’s Sami Välimäki and Spain’s Alejandro del Rey on four under.
Clements earned a maiden DP World Tour victory last year at the D+D REAL Czech Masters but he hasn’t hit the same heights this season, registering just one top 10 at the recent Danish Championship.
Rory McIlroy is in a group of five on three under par on a day when less than 50 players managed to break par.
Leading the Irish charge behind Rory McIlroy is Conor Purcell, a winner on the Challenge Tour this season at Galgorm Castle, amateur Max Kennedy and Shane Lowry who all carded a one over par 72.
“Starting five, five, five, wasn’t ideal. Then where I hit it on the fourth obviously wasn’t ideal either. That up-and-down was like, it kind of gave me a bit of the kick-start that I needed and a bit of a pep in my step,” said Shane.
“I felt like from there I was pretty good, other than the 12th hole which, you know, I was a little bit unfortunate as well on 12 with my tee shot, even my second shot. But you’ve got to take it on the chin and move on. Nice to birdie the last. That will make dinner taste a little nicer.
“You look at the scoring out there, there’s nobody shooting really low. Even in major championship, people always shoot good scores on the first day. So you can tell how hard of a test that is.”
At two over par, Padraig Harrington and Newcastle-based Simon Thornton are definitely still very much in the hunt.
“It was a tough day but it was actually a day to have a little bit of a look around and see that the scoring wasn’t going so well for everyone and to see that players were struggling in it,” said Harrington who was out early in the worst of the conditions.
“It wasn’t too bad at all. The greens are very fast. I know it’s extreme but like Thomas Detry’s ball blew off the green on eight and into an unplayable lie.
“A lot of putts you’re standing over, you’re never like really confident of hitting them because you know if you have a three- or four-footer downhill and you miss it, you’re going to have a six-footer back up the hill.
It’s a lot of effort to pay attention all day. You feel like you’ve worked. It’s a lot of work today.”
PGA professional Thornton is a former winner on the European Tour back in 2013. He completed his PGA training at Royal County Down and no one in the field has his depth of knowledge around the course.
“You can get carried away with trying to find flags because as a local, I understand that,” said Simon who is now the club professional at Spa Golf Club.
“You can’t go chasing things around here. It’s totally the opposite. You have to play a patient game, and hope you can pick up one or two on the way around.”
Tom McKibbin, Seamus Power and Gary Hurley are a shot further back on three over par.
PGA Tour winner Power was five over after his opening nine holes but two birdies in a bogey-free back nine keeps him in touch.
“I did a lot of good things, so that’s kind of the frustrating part, just didn’t handle the greens on the front side which is poor,” said Power.
“Two or three under is going to be a very good score. It’s tricky. Because even if you hit good shots, you need the right bounces, and even if you hit a good shot to 10, 12 feet, it can be tough on certain greens.”
Mark Power is just about in touch on four over par while amateur Sean Keeling was level par with three holes remaining at the time of going to press.