Seán Keeling, the 15-year-old from Roganstown Golf Club in north county Dublin, will today be at one end of the generation game which will be played out in the final qualifying for the 150th Open Championship.
As if to underscore how golf has no age barrier, a few groups ahead of Keeling at St Annes Old Links on the Lancashire coast will be 64-year-old Sandy Lyle, the two time Major champion, who will also be chasing one of the four precious tickets to St Andrews in a fortnight’s time.
There are four venues hosting Tuesday’s 36-holes final qualifying – St Annes Old Course, Fairmont St Andrews, Hollinswell and Prince’s – with four exemptions available at each. In all, there are 18 Irish players competing, among them Gary Hurley, who won on the Alps Tour last week, and Ruaidhri McGee, who finished runner-up in the Bretagne Open on the Challenge Tour on Sunday.
Keeling received a silver trophy from the R&A on his arrival to St Annes Old Links to mark his achievement in shooting the low round (65) in regional qualifying at Co Louth and the teenager is viewed as one of the main up-and-coming talents in Irish golf.
“He’s used to playing against top players, he won’t be afraid,” remarked his coach Geoff Loughrey, who has been his swing guru since Keeling took up the sport aged eight.
Loughrey previously worked with Michael Bannon at Holywood Golf Club and has brought the same fundamentals into Keeling’s swing as Bannon did with Rory McIlroy.
“Seán’s swing would be similar to Rory’s, it’s a very natural game. We try to make him play with a lot more feel. We don’t like too much technology or to complicate things, we like to play a nice simple game with a lot of feel,” explained Loughrey, adding: “Seán is in good form, he likes the course, and he has as good a chance as anyone [to qualify].”
Mehaffey looking for some home comfort
Olivia Mehaffey, in her rookie season on the Ladies European Tour, is hoping that some home comforts will enable her to recharge the batteries before hitting the road again.
After an exhausting start to the season which saw her compete for eight straight weeks – going from the USA to South Africa to Thailand to Australia and then Spain, where she had a top-10 finish in the Madrid Open – Mehaffey’s globetrotting caught up with her and led to five missed cuts.
“I’ve decided to take two weeks off. It’s been a little hectic and I’ve played a lot of golf,” said Mehaffey who is back in Co Down for some R&R before getting back to playing the LET.
And down the road there is also a chance to play on home turf, firstly in the ISPS Handa World Invitational at Galgorm Castle (August 11th-14th) and then in the KPMG Women’s Irish Open at Dromoland Castle (September 22nd-25th).
Mehaffey – speaking at the launch of KPMG assuming title sponsorship of the Irish Ladies Open for three years – said:
“For KPMG to step up and make their commitment to the event and become the title sponsor is huge and it’s very exciting for Irish golf. The tournament’s coming back at a good time. Having Leona [Maguire] and Steph [Meadow] out there [on tour], and I’ve just turned pro and obviously there’s a lot of really good girls coming up behind, Irish women’s golf is on such a high right now so I think it’s really good timing and I can only see it going from strength to strength.”
Word of Mouth
“This is a big win for me mentally, just because I had to check myself . . . . when you’ve been out [on tour] and things are going easy, you just expect to play well all the time. Sometimes it’s good to take a step back” – Xander Schauffele attributing his win in the Travelers to a more contemplative attitude.
By the Numbers:11
There are 11 Irish players in the field for the Horizon Irish Open at Mount Juliet: Shane Lowry, Séamus Power, Pádraig Harrington, Jonny Caldwell, John Murphy, Niall Kearney, Paul Dunne, Mark Power, Colm Campbell, David Higgins and Cormac Sharvin.
On this day: June 28th,1998
An emotional Sam Torrance threw his cap into the crowd and was then reduced to tears after winning the Peugeot French Open in Paris, his 32st – and last – victory on the European Tour.
Torrance, wearing the blue shirt of Scotland for this final round, shot a final round 70 for a 12-under-par total of 276 to finish two strokes clear of a group that featured Bernhard Langer, Olivier Edmond, Massimo Florioli and Matthew Goggin.
The win ended a three year barren spell for the 44-year-old Scot dating back to his British Masters win of 1995, who remarked: “It’s wonderful, very special. The emotion gets to me but I never thought I wouldn’t win again. I am very strong and very fit. I certainly don’t feel like the second oldest player in the tournament which someone kindly told me. I am young at heart and I might go on and win a few more.”
In the Bag - Pádraig Harrington
Driver – Titleist TSi3 (9 degrees)
3-wood – TaylorMade M4 (15 degrees)
5-wood – TaylorMade SIM2 Max (18 degrees)
Irons – Wilson Staff FG Tour (4), Wilson Staff Model Forged (5-PW)
Wedges – Wilson Staff (52, 58 and 64 degrees)
Putter – Odyssey White Hot OG 2-Ball
Ball – Titleist ProV1
Twitter Twaddle
Congrats to the champ! @padraig_h – Leona Maguire
Go on Paddy @paddy_h – Shane Lowry
Had a great first time in Germany. Fans are amazing, the course was fun to play. Thanks @bmw for supporting the game of golf on a global scale. Look forward to coming back! – Billy Horschel
Know the Rules
Q The margins of ground under repair do not extend vertically upwards. If the ball lies outside ground under repair and a tree rooted within the ground under repair interferes with a player’s swing, but there is no interference with his stance, is the player entitled to relief?
A Yes. The definition of “Ground under Repair” states, “All ground and any grass, bush, tree or other growing thing within the ground under repair is part of the ground under repair. Therefore, the player may take relief under Rule 25-1 as the tree within ground under repair interferes with the area of his intended swing.”
