February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By John Manley
Christy O’Connor Jr.’s spike marks were evident on two continents last weekend.
The Galway golfer won his third tournament of 1999 with a four-stroke victory in the Foremost Insurance Championship at the Egypt Valley Country Club in Ada, Mich.
O’Connor has already this year won the senior British Open and the State Farm senior classic on the U.S. senior tour.
Back in Ireland at the weekend, the O’Connor-designed Galway Bay Golf & Country Club hosted the West of Ireland Golf Classic, in which Constantino Rocca scored a two-shot victory over Padraig Harrington.
O’Connor had withdrawn from the previous week’s event, the Lightpath Classic on Long Island, citing physical and mental exhaustion, but he appeared to have been back at full strength in Michigan.
Never miss an issue of The Irish Echo
Subscribe to one of our great value packages.
An opening round 69 left him two shots off the lead, which he dissipated with a second round 68. O’Connor was paired with co-leader John Bland for the final round, but his partner hadn’t much game to offer, shooting 76, so O’Connor had to push himself to a
four-under 68 and the championship.
O’Connor capped off the triumph with an eagle-3 on the 518-yard 17th hole. A driver and a 5-wood placed him on the green, 12 feet from the pin. One stroke of the putter dropped the ball.
His final score of 205 left him four shots ahead of runners-up George Archer, John Jacobs and Jim Thorpe. The trophy joins those earned by O’Connor earlier this year in the British Senior Open and the State Farm Senior Classic.
The $150,000 winner’s share lifts him into the top 20 on the Senior Tour money list.
European tour
The West of Ireland Golf Classic may have lacked some of this tour’s bigger names, who flew to Medinah for the PGA Championship, but the event may have some impact on the Ryder Cup points scramble and served to showcase the play of some native sons.
Rocca and Harrington were tied beginning the fourth round, but three birdies saw the Italian move to a three-stroke advantage when they hit the tee box on 8. Harrington, however, crept back to even by the time they holed out on 15. He then proceeded to drive his ball out of bounds on 16, necessitating a drop, which paved the way home for Rocca, who shot 70 on Sunday. The winner finished 12 under par at 276 for the tournament to 278 (69-69-68-72) for
Harrington.
The result moved Harrington from 16th place to 11th in the Ryder Cup standings. He needs to win the next event in Munich this weekend to ensure his participation on the European team.
Des Smyth also showed well in Galway, tying for third place at 279
(71-68-69-71). Paul McGinley was his old self again after some frightful play this summer, another shot back at 280 (68-69-74-69), which was good for a sixth-place tie.
Other Irish representatives to go the distance included Peter Lawrie, tied for 18th at 285 (70-76-72-67), Gary Murphy, tied for 35th at 288 (72-72-73-71), Eamonn Darcy, tied for 50th at 290 (71-75-72-72), Philip Walton, tied for 59th at 292 (75-70-75-72) and Damian Mooney, tied for 75th at 298 (73-71-77-77).
Just missing the cut were the following who came in at 147 for 36 holes: Francis Howley (69-78), David Higgins (74-73), Raymond Burns (72-75), John McHenry (72-75), Graham Spring (71-76), John Dwyer (74-73) and Brendan McGovern (70-77). Others who gave it a go were Geoffrey Loughrey, 149 (71-78), and Michael Allen, 153 (74-79).
PGA championship
Darren Clarke was in good position to move up the leaderboard after an opening round 72 at Medinah, but the gear shift flew into reverse and he came in with a 75 the second time around, missing the cut by a stroke.
Nike tour
John Kernohan got it together at the Ozarks Open, played at the Highland Springs Country Club in Springfield, Mo. Kernohan had been hard-pressed to make a cut of late, but he exhibited a steady hand to earn a share of ninth place here. In at 277 (69-70-68-70) after 72 holes, Kernohan finished seven shots behind Ryan Howison and Ed Fryatt, who went one extra hole in order to declare Howison the victor. Kernohan’s earnings came to $5,450.
Euro seniors open
Paul Leonard was the low-scoring Irishman in the Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open, last week’s installment of the European Seniors Tour, held just outside of Zurich. Leonard, who lives in Cookstown, Co. Tyrone and plays out of the Fintona Golf Club, held the lead after the first round, having shot six-under 64. Subsequent rounds of 71 and 70 left him tied for ninth place at 205, seven shots behind champion Bob Shearer’s 198.
Eddie Polland shared 21st place with a 54-hole total of 208 (67-71-70), while Joe McDermott tied for 30th place at 211 (72-69-70).
European tour
Padraig Harrington has had a quiet summer, but his 21st place finish in the Volvo Scandinavian Masters at Barseback in Malmo, Sweden may portend better things. Harrington shot five-under 283 (73-69-69-72), which was 15 strokes back of Colin Montgomerie’s winning 268. Paul McGinley is another of whom better play is expected. He got his game on track by tying for 45th place at
286 (72-71-68-75).
Des Smyth and Philip Walton spent the weekend looking for answers to why they didn’t make the cut of 144 or better. Smyth shot 147 (74-73), while Walton came in at 154 (78-76).