With 11 Irish players in action, hopes are high that a home soil victory can be delivered at Galgorm this week as the Challenge Tour rolls into town for the Black Desert NI Open presented by Tom McKibbin.
The most recent graduate from the Challenge Tour and the latest Irishman to become a winner on the DP World Tour won’t actually be in action, though McKibbin did feature in Wednesday’s Pro-Am, but in Conor Purcell and Gary Hurley, we’ve two players well in contention to finish inside the top-20 in the Road to Mallorca rankings and gain DP World Tour cards.
They are joined by Challenge Tour regulars Dermot McElroy, who gets to tee it up a short cycle from his childhood home, Jonathan Caldwell, John Murphy and Ronan Mullarney, while Alex Maguire, Conor O’Rourke, Daniel Mulligan and Mark Power also get a chance to push their way up the rankings.
Spa head pro Simon Thornton completes the lineup, earning an invitation through victory at the PGA Playoffs in Cyprus earlier this year.
Consistency has been an issue of late for Purcell and Hurley, the former missing the cut at last week’s Euram Bank Open after a T16 and a T16 in his last two respective Challenge Tour starts, while Hurley has missed two cuts in his four starts since coming up one shot shy in his second-place finish at the Challenge de Cadiz.
Mullarney, Murphy and McElroy all need strong finishes to the season to secure playing privileges for 2025 with the latter best placed of the trio in the rankings at 133rd. However, good omens are in place as the NI Open had previously been a Clutch Pro Tour event between 2020 and 2023 and Murphy (2021) and McElroy (2022) are past winners.
“I’m very relaxed about this week,” McElroy said. “I know this course so well, so I’m looking forward to it. It’ll be great to see a local crowd out here too, and my whole family will be watching.
“I play the course most days when I’m at home. It is very demanding off the tee so if you drive it well, generally you’ll score well. Your driver really does have to be razor sharp and then hopefully the rest falls into place.
“I know how to play it and I know what a good score is on a breezy day, and it’s always quite breezy here.”
A strong finish to the Euram Bank Open gave him the confidence boost required and he hopes that that, combined with his local knowledge, could be just the edge required to get into contention in front of home fans.
“I think I found something in my game last week,” he said. “I would say I’m quietly confident coming into this week.
“I’ve been changing about with my driver all year, and it hasn’t been up to the standard I’d want it, but I think I’ve found something that suits me. As I say, I’m quietly confident.”
Joining the 11 Irish is a strong field that includes top five players in the Road to Mallorca Rankings, including Dane Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Englishman John Parry and Spaniard Joel Moscatel, who have all won twice this season.
Thornton is the first of the home challengers to get his tournament underway when he hits the opening tee shot off the 10th hole at 07:30, while McElroy and Purcell will be part of the afternoon wave marquee groupings when they start at 13:10 and 13:20 respectively.