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McIlroy goes back to his roots for coach

Rory McIlroy will have Michael Bannon as his full time coach after the Bangor professional announced he would leave his club job to hit the road with the reigning US Open champion.

The 53-year old began coaching McIlroy at Holywood when the Co. Down superstar was just eight years old and continued to do so despite moving to Bangor GC in recent years.

McIlroy and Bannon frequently limited their coaching sessions to his weeks off. But the Holywood star announced earlier this year that he needed more help on the road, especially the majors.

Following a poor performance at the Masters and three successive missed cuts in recent weeks, McIlroy appears to have convinced his coach that he can no longer combine his club duties with coaching the world No. 2.

Speaking at Quail Hollow last month, McIlroy explained that he was thinking seriously of bringing Bannon to future majors, “just in case” he needed to carry out running repairs to his swing.

McIlroy said: “It’s something we’ve talked about the last few weeks and it’s something we might change. He might come out the weeks of majors, just in case something comes up and I need a little tweak here or there.”

It now appears that Bannon will appear at every regular event too — he plays between 23 and 26 — making sure his pupil is firing on all cylinders.

* Royal Portrush’s Stephanie Meadow, fresh from garnering GB&I’s winning point at last weekend’s Curtis Cup, is favourite to win her first Irish Women’s Close Amateur title when competitors tee up at Co Louth tomorrow.

In addition to impressive results on the US college circuit, Meadow claimed a notable three points from four starts when the GB&I team celebrated their first Curtis Cup win over the Americans since victory at Killlarney in 1996.

The Maguire twins will be her closest rivals at Baltray. Leona, who took one-and-a-half GB&I points at Nairn, and her twin sister Lisa, are already showing the kind of form that saw them crowned Irish Amateur champions in 2008 and 2009, respectively.

Former champion Deirdre Smith is sure to feature in the final rounds over her home course, as are past champions Mary Dowling and Karen Delaney.

Current internationals bidding for glory include Gillian O’Leary (Cork) and Paula Grant (Lisburn) who are both showing good form while Jessica Carty (Holywood), Olivia Mehaffey (RCD Ladies) and Ariana Coyle Diez (Elm Park) are upcoming juniors sure to present a challenge.

lIreland’s Colm Moriarty was quickly in the thick of things in the St Omer Open in France yesterday where a fine opening round of 69 put him just two shots off the leaders.

The English pair, Adam Gee and Simon Wakefield, and Sihwan Kim are part of a three-way tie at the top on four under par with rounds of 67.

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