By SHAY KEENAN
No joy as Irish are a distant sixth
THERE was no joy for the Irish team at the recent PGAs of Europe International Team Championships, which was held at the Vale do Lobo Golf Club in Portugal.
Playing the Ocean course, the three-man Irish team consisted of John Kelly, Eamonn Brady and David Ryan.
At the end of the competition the trio finished in a tie for sixth place of the 26 competing nations with a score of seven under par.
But sadly they were a long way short of the winning team. The competition was dominated by France, who were in a different class throughout the whole event and were worthy winners on a very impressive winning total of 19 under par.
The French had actually gone into the final round with a five-stroke advantage, but by the end of the day they had secured a nine-stroke winning margin.
Their nearest challengers and in joint second place were Spain and Scotland, but they were both a distant nine strokes back on 10 under par.
Italy were fourth on nine under par, one ahead of England, with the Irish – who were two-time winners of this particular event – the next best in a tie for sixth place with Denmark.
Higgins finishes just one off the pace in Turkey
ALTHOUGH now hoping to secure one of the 30 European Tour cards on offer at the Final Qualifying in Catalunya this week, Waterville’s David Higgins was just a shot off winning the Titleist PGA play-off at Antalya Golf Club in Turkey recently.
Higgins showed good form throughout the 54-hole event and shot 68 and 67 in the opening two rounds before recording his best effort of the week in the third and final round when he shot a five-under-par 66.
That left Higgins – who has three wins on the European Challenge Tour in his career to date – on 12 under par for the event and tied for second place with Simon Lilly of England.
However, they were one stroke adrift of winner Richard Wallis of England, who shot rounds of 65, 67 and 68.
Next best of the Irish competitors in the event was Barrie Treanor, who finished in a tie for 10th place on one under par.
Robert Giles of Greenore was in a tie for 16th place on six over par, while Damien Mooney of Ballyliffin was in a tie for 19th place on seven over par.
There was a bonus for both Higgins and Treanor as by virtue of their top-10 placings they both earned places in the European Tour’s signature event, the BMW PGA Championships, which will as per usual be held at Wentworth.
Walker Cup named event of the year
THE Walker Cup has been named Event of the Year at the annual Scottish Sports Awards 2011.
Royal Aberdeen hosted the two-day biennial team competition in September which attracted thousands of spectators to watch the 10 best amateurs from Britain and Ireland take on their counterparts from the United States.
BI went into the contest as underdogs against a US team that included six of the world’s top 10 amateurs. However, brilliant performances from the Irish pair of Paul Cutler from Portstewart and Rathmore’s Alan Dunbar, Welsh teenager Rhys Pugh and British Open Championship Silver Medallist Tom Lewis saw the team win the Walker Cup for the first time since 2003.
Captained by Nigel Edwards, the victory means BI has now claimed four of the last five Walker Cups played on home soil, dating to 1995 at Royal Porthcawl in Wales.
Springfield event gets the chop
THE LPGA tournament in Springfield next June has been cancelled after organisers failed to find a new sponsor. Tournament executive director Kate Peters said yesterday the board decided last Thursday to end the event after 36 years.
State Farm withdrew as the event title sponsor last February. Peters said the board had tried to land a new sponsor and had been working with the LPGA. Top-ranked Yani Tseng won the tournament in June.
State Farm considered backing out in 2009 but the LPGA and tournament organisers convinced the Bloomington-based insurer to stay on.
Lahinch land catch at Fishers Island
FISHERS Island Golf Club in New York State played host to the second staging of the Women’s International Team Challenge recently.
The competition was inaugurated by the Olympic Golf Club in San Francisco in 2010, and the Olympic Club won the Cup in the first year.
The tournament is a stableford competition and consists of two fourball matches with maximum handicaps of 22 and one gross fourball match.
This year the women from Lahinch won on a countback from the the host club.
The competition is played on the top golf courses on both sides of the Atlantic. That tradition of top quality courses as host venues will be maintained once again next year as Southern Hills Golf Club in Oklahoma – which has hosted the US Open three times and the USPGA on four occasions – is the venue.
Lahinch Golf Club will host the tournament in 2013.
Nicholas thrilled with sports award
SOLHEIM Cup captain Alison Nicholas has been handed the Spirit of Sport Award, recognising fair play and those who inspire, by the Sports Journalists’ Association of Britain (SJA).
The award was presented in recognition of her incredible achievements as a professional golfer and as an inspirational leader, captaining the 2011 European Solheim Cup team to a 15-13 victory, which she rates as her career highlight.
“I’m thrilled and deeply honoured in receiving this award. This award is as much about the European Solheim Cup team’s victory at Killeen Castle and their incredible spirit,” said Nicholas, at the ceremony in the opulent surroundings of the Grand Connaught Rooms in Covent Garden.
The European team comprised Christel Boeljon, Laura Davies, Sandra Gal, Sophie Gustafson, Caroline Hedwall, Maria Hjorth, Catriona Matthew, Azahara Muñoz, Anna Nordqvist, Suzann Pettersen, Melissa Reid and Karen Stupples.
The team’s last-day 7-5 singles score meant it was a fourth victory from 12 contests since the competition’s inception in 1990.
Some members of the team will attend the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards in Manchester, on Thursday, December 22nd, where the team is shortlisted for the Team of the Year award.
