Golf Irish Seniors Open: A nasty dose of double trouble scuppered Christy O'Connor jnr and his attempt to impose himself on the leaderboard on the opening day of the AIB Irish Seniors Open Championship at the Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort.
The beautifully prepared and manicured Robert Trent Jones parkland layout remained unbowed after the first skirmish, only 15 players breaking par.
The Irishman's opening and closing holes saw him cough up four shots over regulation figures, a brace of double bogeys primarily responsible for his 76, some eight shots behind the leading triumvirate of Gary Wintz, Jeff Van Wagenen and Delroy Cambridge, who posted four-under-the-card 68s.
O'Connor's woes began with a tee-shot at the 392-yard, par-four, first hole that ended in the rough but more pertinently forced him to take a stance in the bunker. His attempt to clip a five wood onto the green proved a mite ambitious, the ball nestled in the pond that guards the putting surface.
His response paradoxically was to produce "the best golf tee-to-green in 20 years up to the 16th hole. I can't say I've hit the ball better but didn't make a single putt. It (putting) was horrific, the worst I've ever putted in my life".
He birdied the short 4th, hitting a six iron to 15 feet, and was back to level par when grabbing another birdie at the 10th with a drive and sand wedge to 10 feet. O'Connor squandered a host of birdie opportunities before his travails on the greens became more debilitating, missing from four feet on 15 and eight on 17 to drop back to two over.
The 544-yard 18th was to provide further misery. A wayward tee-shot forced O'Connor to scuff his second, left-handed, requiring a third to make the fairway and leaving no option but to lay up with his fourth: a pitch and two putts gave him an ugly double-bogey seven.
It proved a disappointing day also for Corkman Denis O'Sullivan, another who struggled to master greens running at 10.5 on the stimpmeter, missing half a dozen putts from six feet or less en route to a 75. "They (the greens) were in fantastic condition, a lot quicker than pro-am day, but the subtle slopes made them difficult to read," he said.
Instead it was 58-year-old Fintona club professional Paul Leonard that spearheaded the 10-man home challenge with a one-under-par 71. "I was a little apprehensive going out because I haven't played competitively in a while but struck the ball quite well," he said.
A professional for 41 years, Leonard once challenged prominently for the 1975 British Open at Carnoustie before fading to finish 12th behind Tom Watson. Since joining the European Seniors Tour in 1995 he has enjoyed 20 top-10 finishes but just a single victory, the Efteling European Trophy (1998).
Clare-born Florida resident Joe McDermott and Waterville's Liam Higgins were next best of the Irish, on one-over-par, 73.
Two-time defending champion Seiji Ebihara remains the man to beat, ominously placed just two behind the leaders. Smiling and relaxed after his round, he reiterated his affinity for his surroundings this week before heading for the range.
Americans Van Wagenen and Wintz, the latter recently recovered from a triple hernia operation, adapted best, along with Jamaican Delroy Cambridge, to the dull, drizzly conditions.
The abbreviated format, three rounds over as many days, reduces the scope to recover a poor start. As the touring professional attached to Adare, O'Connor will be hoping his interest in this season's AIB Irish Seniors Open is a little more substantial than academic going into tomorrow's final round.
