The early birdie: It took the guts of an hour from the start of play yesterday morning but the honour of recording the first birdie in the Irish Open over the Montgomerie course at Carton House fell to Sweden's Peter Gustafsson.
The 28-year-old who lives on the Costa del Sol started on the 10th tee and promptly bogeyed his first two holes but on the short par four, 13th recorded the first birdie of the tournament, the first of three in succession. Gustafsson recently came to prominence when he lost a play-off for the Spanish Open to compatriot Peter Hanson on the same San Roque course on which he won the 2004 European Tour qualifying school.
He thought he had earned a Tour card by right having been told so at the final Challenge Tour event of the season by dint of finishing in the top 15 in the Order of Merit and thereby gaining an automatic slot. The initial information proved erroneous and he eventually finished 16th, one place outside the cut-off for promotion to the elite. Tour school offered him redemption although he nearly didn't make it because of a knee injury.
Family first
It's refreshing to see that despite the pressures of being involved in modern professional sport family commitments can still take precedence. Kells-native Damien McGrane misses this week's European Tour fare at Carton House to be with his young daughter Gemma, who makes her first communion tomorrow.
Ryder Cup tickets
The European Tour yesterday launched the official ticket site for the 36th Ryder Cup that takes place at the K Club from September 22nd-24th, 2006, on their europeantour.com site. The site can be used to make an application (maximum two tickets per household) for the following days - Tuesday, September 19th: practice day; Wednesday, September 20th: practice day; Thursday, September 21st: practice day and opening ceremony; Friday, September 22nd: foursomes and fourballs; Saturday, September 23rd: foursomes and fourballs; Sunday September 24th: singles and closing ceremony.
The site is open to personal applicants only who must provide their permanent residential address. Applications from companies, "care of" addresses and PO Box numbers will not be accepted. Successful applicants will be determined through a computerised random lottery draw to take place in August 2005. Successful and unsuccessful applicants will be notified of their result by email. An individual may enter the computerised random lottery draw only once. Multiple applications will be disqualified and removed from the public lottery. Ticket applications will be accepted on the site until midnight on July 18th, 2005, after which this site will close.
Mooney leads way
The representatives from the PGA Irish Region acquitted themselves very well at Carton House with the big hitting Lisburn golfer Damian Mooney leading the way with a superb two under par 70. Having decided to play golf full-time he splits his time between the Euro Pro tour and PGA Irish Region events.
The key to his round having turned in one over par 37 was a run from the 13th to the 15th where he made three successive birdies. He drove greenside at the short par four and got up and down, then at the next hit a drive and nine iron to 20 feet and holed the putt. He used his power at the par five 15th, going through the back in two but getting up and down. "I was very steady out there hitting fairways and greens. I was only in the rough once and that was at the 10th. That is so important on this course."
