Woosnam aiming to stay a cut above the rough

OF all the many great Irish Opens staged at Portmarnock, the 1989 championship which saw Ian Woosnam pip our own Philip Walton in a play-off, remains one of the most memorable.

The little Welshman is back again at one of his favourite venues, not really hoping to repeat his wins of 1988 and 89, but just to play well on a course for which he has the deepest admiration.

Woosie is 45 and complains of a few pains and aches, but for my money there remain few sweeter swingers of a golf club, especially when he launches into a full blooded tee shot or a long iron off a tight lie.

His 1991 Masters triumph at Augusta stands as ample testament to Woosnam’s genius, but he has been winning tournaments dating back to the world under-23 matchplay championship in 1979 up to 2001 when he came from a long way back to defeat Padraig Harrington in the final of the world matchplay championship at Wentworth.

You suspect he wouldn’t be here this week were it not for the venue and the memories it evokes. And the most vivid of all is the driver shot he played from a difficult fairway lie at the 16th to set up a crucial birdie that enabled him to draw level with Walton, who he then went on to beat in a play-off.

“That picture still hangs in my office at home,” he says with a smile. “The photographer caught the shot at impact and it’s one I’m very proud of.

“But I’ve always loved playing in Ireland, I think I’m coming here since 1978 and I regard Portmarnock as one of my favourite sea links courses in the world.

“I know they’ve made a few alterations, but not too many, and that’s good. What I like about Portmarnock is that the course plays in all different directions. It’s not nine out and nine in, you play across the wind, down the wind, into the wind, left to right, right to left.”

Given that Woosnam won for the first time on the European Tour in 1982 and boasts a total of 29 in all, along with victories all over the world and has been on four successful Ryder Cups teams, it is hardly surprising that he has only a scant memory of his first Irish Open in 1988.

However, it was equally certain that he would recall the following year and his famous battle with Walton.

“As for 88, I know I enjoyed winning it because I’ve always enjoyed coming here but I can only remember the battle with Phil Walton the following year,” said Woosnam.

“The crowd was unbelievable, they were cheering Phil, they were backing Phil, he was the local boy and naturally they wanted him to win. Obviously, if I didn’t win I’d have been glad to see him do it. I had a good battle in me at that time and kept going and managed to win.

“That shot at the 16th was one of the best of my life. I cut a driver into the wind to about 12 feet and although I didn’t hole it for eagle, it was a birdie and a change of fortunes in the tournament.

“It was off a tight lie into a narrow entrance and that was the only way to get it near the flag. It’s one I have great memories of.

“I had a 10 or 12 footer to win on the last but missed so we went into the play-off. I made birdie and I guess I was seen as a bit of a spoilsport but I’ve been to Ireland many times and have a lot of supporters here.”

Woosnam came through the qualifying rounds for the Open Championship last week and performed reasonably well at Royal St George’s, demonstrating that the competitive fires still burn within, but he admitted: “The game is getting a bit better but I’m suffering with my health a little, a bad back, a bad neck, bad foot, just suffering and getting old. I’m back to the short putter, I tried it in the last round on Sunday and did all right with it.

“I was taking 36-38 putts and you can’t do that. I was finding it difficult to get the pace right with the long putter on the links and in the wind, it kept blowing around too much.

“I’ll be using the short putter again this week, no it’s not an old friend, just one of these modern things, they all feel horrible.

“Hopefully I can play well. If I’m to win another tournament, it will be on a sea links like Portmarnock. I would like to see more tournaments played on these types of courses, you have to be able to move the ball around a little more, it’s not just a power game like on the other courses.”