Lack of competitive edge hampers Higgins

HE departed the amateur game at the age of 21 with an outstanding pedigree and was quickly tagged as one of the great white hopes of Irish golf.

Ten years on, the name of David Higgins has faded from the memory of those with a passing interest in the game.

Quiet, unassuming and well liked by just about everybody, Higgins enjoyed exciting moments through the 1990s and into the new century without establishing the level of consistency so crucial for success at this level.

Nowadays he struggles to find a place on the European Challenge Tour and it is very likely that the lack of a competitive edge caused him to drop shots late on in yesterday's second round of the Nissan Irish Open at Baltray.

He qualified for the tournament through leading the Irish PGA Region order of merit in 2003, no mean feat in itself, but it is far from being one of the most glamorous of arenas. The status, though, does have a few perks. Chiefly, it enabled him to find a place in the field for this year's Smurfit European Open and Volvo PGA Championship. He missed the cut at The K-Club but played the weekend at Wentworth where he tied for 62nd and collected the princely sum of €9,562.

He was fortunate to acquire three invitations to the Challenge Tour where he made two cuts and earned €1,382 - hardly enough to cover the air fares and a few decent meals.

Here in Ireland the year has been a lot more profitable. Higgins has won the last five tournaments he contested on the Irish PGA Region accumulating in the process the tidy sum of €19,100.

He shot a spectacular 11 under par 61 at Wexford and followed that up by tying for first at St Helens Bay and leading on his own at the Castle, East Clare, and Dundrum House, where he collected €6,000.

Higgins still believes he can make it back to the big time and if there's a chance of playing any Challenge Tour event, he won't baulk at the challenge or run from the cost involved.

He struggled at the outset in Baltray when taking six at the long second where birdie is everybody's objective. From there, however, he rattled off a hat-trick of birdies followed by an eagle at the long 6th where he demonstrated the quality of his ball striking by knocking a five iron second shot to within a couple of yards of the hole.

He also birdied the 9th to reach the turn in four under 33 en route to a splendid 68 pieced together stylishly in the last group of the day.

Things started very brightly yesterday when he birdied the 10th, his 1st. He then knocked off the pars until dropping his first shot at the extremely difficult par three 17th.

Level par 35 to the turn and still four under was eminently satisfactory and it got even better when he birdied the first hole of his homeward journey.

David moved to six under and within touching distance of the leaders when making four at the long 6th but then things took a turn for the worst.

The 421 yards 8th was playing downwind and should never have cost him a double bogey.

He explained why it happened: "I took the wrong club off the tee. I was trying to hit a five wood over the bunker on the right instead of an iron left. It's an evil pit and all I could do was splash it out, pitch on the green - only then I three putted. At my last hole, I had a nice second shot that came up short, chipped on and two putted.

"When I got to minus six, I had missed six putts inside ten feet but it's alright, I'm still here for the weekend so I'll give it a go."

While accepting that he would have gladly accepted three under par for 36 holes before the event began, David was unhappy with his putting.

"It wasn't as good as usual, I was probably looking up on them," he commented. "I wasn't nervous of the greens but they were a bit faster as they dried out so I guess I didn't stay down on them. I played nicely but the finish was disappointing. I didn't get ahead of myself in any way because I have too much experience for that. This game can do anything to you. My aim is to play well every day."