Late invitation a boost for Hoey

EUROPEAN TOUR/News Round-Up: Michael Hoey received a coveted belated invitation to play in the North West of Ireland Open over the Glashedy links at Ballyliffin Golf Club. It is expected to be the last time he will receive such largesse on the European tour this season.

The tournament, which begins on Thursday, is a "double badge" event with the field split between the European Tour and the European Challenge Tour.

Hoey, currently 173rd in the Volvo Order of Merit with earnings of €39,748 is aware that he requires to double that just to avoid the first two stages of qualifying for the tour school at the end of the season.

He would dearly love a prominent finish in the €350,000 North West of Ireland Open over the wonderful Glashedy links course. Hoey will be joined by a strong Irish presence including Philip Walton, Francis Howley, Peter Lawrie, Conor Mallon, Paddy Gribben, David Higgins and John Dwyer amongst others.

The lure of the USPGA Championship at Hazeltine in Minnesota has obviously denied the tournament its usual quota of high profile European tour players but still represents a great opportunity for a tour success.

Leading the challenge will be former Volvo PGA Champions Andrew Oldcorn and Costantino Rocca. Oldcorn won the 2001 PGA Championship at Wentworth Club at the age of 41 to become the oldest winner of The European Tour's flagship event, beating the previous record set by Rocca.

The Scot returns to Ireland this week for the first time since playing a leading role in Great Britain and Ireland's victory in The Seve Trophy at Druids Glen in April.

Oldcorn missed the last two European Tour events to be held in Ireland - the Murphy's Irish Open and the Smurfit European Open - due to illness but now fully recovered he is ready to challenge for a fourth European Tour title.

Rocca won the Volvo PGA Championship in 1996. In 1999 he made a bold attempt to earn a fourth Ryder Cup berth by winning the first North West of Ireland Open, his fifth European Tour title, at Galway Bay but narrowly missed out on making the team.

Other former Ryder Cup players in the field include the English trio of Peter Baker, Paul Broadhurst, Steven Richardson, Scotland's Andrew Coltart and Ireland's Philip Walton.

Italian golfers have enjoyed great success in this event with Massimo Scarpa following directly in Rocca's footsteps by winning the title in 2000 at Slieve Russell, Scarpa once again joins Rocca in the field looking to repeat that victory.

Defending champion Tobias Dier was a recent winner on tour, claiming the the TNT Open at Hilversumche GC.

The Glashedy course, designed by Pat Ruddy and Tom Craddock is set on 365 acres of spectacular duneland, close to Malin Head on Donegal's Inishowen Peninsula. It will be interesting to see how the competitors fare especially if the wind blows.

Meanwhile the new Welsh Open champion Paul Lawrie might reasonably have hoped that bad weather would prevail at the USPGA Championship following his success in a rain hit win at Celtic Manor.

The former Open champion - who lost out in a play-off last year after rain reduced the event to 36 holes - carded two rounds of 70 on the final day after fog, rain and lightning on Friday again played havoc with the €1.1 million tournament.

It gave the 33-year-old Scot a 16-under total of 272 and five-shot winning margin over Midlander John Bickerton - and the perfect confidence boost for the US PGA Championship.

The victory also enhanced Lawrie's unwanted reputation as a bad-weather golfer. His first tour win in the 1996 Open Catalonia came when the tournament was reduced to 36 holes because of high winds.

He then mastered the Shamal winds in Qatar to win over 72 holes in 1999 before his famous victory in the windswept Open at Carnoustie a few months later - and he also won the Dunhill Links Championship last year when more bad weather forced the tournament into a fifth day.

Even his win in last week's Scottish Matchplay championship was delayed by bad weather, the final moved from Deeside because of flooding to his native Aberdeen only to be delayed by fog.

"I don't see myself any better in the wind and rain than anyone else," said Lawrie, who acknowledged his course record-equalling 65 in the second round was the key to victory.

"I'd like to think I'm capable of playing in brilliant sunshine - but I do tend to win when it's naff," he added. "I just hope it's bad weather at Hazeltine."