If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. It's a motto that must have been repeated to Roger Chapman many times during his 20-year professional career and it finally produced a first win in last week's Rio de Janeiro Open.
It also applies to Noel Kelly from Raheny in Dublin who has laboured on the Golf Masters Tour since its foundation in 1995. He finally hit the big time by taking our weekly prize of golf and dinner for four at Tulfarris.
"This is the best feeling in the world. I've got the monkey off my back at last," said Chapman. "Unbelievable, brilliant, where is Tulfarris?" said Kelly, who is one of 743 managers with the popular Englishman in his Golf Masters' line-up. His reasons for including him were simple. "He's been playing for so long, he's consistent and he's never lost his card so I thought that this might be his year," said Kelly, blissfully unaware of the fact that Chapman came close to giving up altogether because he lost his card last year before regaining it at Tour School. With bonus money on offer at the week's other event - the Tournament Players' Championship - Kelly's inclusion of Chapman in his appropriately named Lucky Seven was never on its own going to be enough to secure top honours. However, Lucky Seven was one of only two teams to combine Chapman with the top two finishers at Sawgrass - Hal Sutton and Tiger Woods. The other was Muiris Heron's Birds 2. Like Kelly, Heron is a Golf Masters' veteran who has failed previously to make an impact. "My name has never been in lights but it gives you a great interest all the same. I have never botheredwith the transfers before but I suppose I'll have to at this stage," said the Hollywood Lakes member. A polo shirt is winging its way to Muiris as consolation.
Pity he didn't use the transfers last week as his downfall was the non-performance of Des Smyth, Keith Nolan, Stephen Allen and Fuzzy Zoeller who contributed nothing to the cause. However, £51,375 from Len Mattiace (tied ninth at Sawgrass) plus minor contributions from Scott Gump and Mark Brooks gave Kelly the edge.
Leading on general classification is Conor McGrath's Master Class who have moved from second to first despite the embarrassing sale of Chapman a fortnight ago. "Yeah, incredible isn't it? I was anxious to make an early burst and have used all the transfers already." It wasn't that calamitous a sale really because he replaced Chapman with Alastair Forsyth - our most popular transfer target. He also swapped Davis Love for Tiger Woods who has since won £220,000 to make him the leading player on our Order of Merit. "I'm getting married in September so it would be great time to win the prize," added McGrath. Not surprisingly, Woods features in our top five teams as do Paul McGinley and Jose Coceres. By the time you read this, the transfer window will be closed but remember that it opens again next Tuesday and Wednesday when you can load your team for the double money on offer in the US Masters. There are two counting tournaments this week - the Sao Paolo Open and the BellSouth Classic. The noncounting Noel Kelly fourball will be played at Tulfarris, near Blessington, Co Wicklow.
