Carriles' drive hits jackpot with ace at 15th to bag 4x4

TO INSURE or not to insure? That was the dilemma facing Gerard O'Toole, executive chairman of Nissan Ireland, once he decided to offer the new state-of-the-art Nissan Murano to the first golfer to hole the 15th in one at this week's Irish Open.

The Murano, which is currently being adapted for the European market, won't be available for general sale in this country until early next year.

I understand the list price will amount to the handsome sum of €63,000 so it was little wonder that Jose Manuel Carriles was also in a quandary as to his best course of action after he struck the jackpot with a beautifully struck and potentially life-changing five iron at the 15th.

Not surprisingly, the 31-year-old Spaniard who was born in Pedrena, the home town of a certain Severiano Ballesteros, and now lives in Alicante, was overjoyed with the prize.

It appears that Jose Manuel and his wife Petra-Maria each possesses what could be loosely described as a "banger" and relish the idea of upgrading their vehicles.

Few could be more appropriate for a professional golfer than a 4X4 but Carriles has to be sensible and pragmatic. He fully realises he needs money more than a fancy new car and anyway with O'Toole kindly disposed to facilitating the Spaniard in any way possible, he could buy two for the price of one - and still have some spare change.

The SUV is on display in the splendid tented village here at Baltray.

Gerard O'Toole feigns despair at not having insured against such an occurrence but he is a good sport and also appreciates the positive publicity associated with the achievement.

"We are delighted to present it [Murano] to Jose Manuel as the first player to ace the 15th," he said. "This is an exceptional car with a high level of quality and design, so it is fitting that it would go to a player with the same standards in his game."

Such flattering comments will also come as music to the ears of Carriles. He joined the professional ranks in 1992 and it's been an uphill struggle for each of the next 12 years.

He has natural talent to burn, understandably so given that he learned the game on the same beach as Seve Ballesteros, where he and some friends shared a half set of clubs. His father caddied at the club and his mother also worked there but they were forbidden to play except in caddies competitions.

Very much as Seve did before him, Carriles climbed a fence at the furthest end of the course.

He received lots of advice from the town's greatest golf export and his brother Manuel, as well as Ramon Sota, uncle of the Ballesteros boys.

He played with hardly any success on the European Tour between 1992 and 1995, forming a close relationship with Miguel Angel Jimenez whom he joined on Tour earlier this year having finished third on last year's European Challenge Tour.

For the last seven months or so, Carriles has rediscovered just how tough it is out there with the big boys. He is currently 124th in the order of merit with €81,126, already struggling to get within the 115 who automatically retain their cards for 2005 and with a best placed finish of 16th in the low-key Malaysian and Seville Opens.

He won't buy too many new cars with that kind of money given the cost of playing the Tour these days so he and Petra-Maria have a lot of thinking to do over the next week or so.

Nevertheless, it's a nice problem to have and certainly Senor Carriles is blessed with the kind of battling qualities so necessary to survive in this most testing of sporting arenas. He began yesterday in the brightest manner possible with a couple of birdies before running up a quadruple nine at the par five 3rd.

He hit back to birdie three of the next four to reach the turn in one under par 36.

The topsy-turvy nature of his day continued with further dropped shots at the 10th and 14th before the high point came at the 15th.

Controlling his excitement with some difficulty, he managed to par the last three for a round of 71 that keeps him there with every chance of surviving into the weekend.

He also knows that, come what may, his visit to Co Louth will prove hugely profitable.

Spare a thought, though, for his compatriot Santiago Luna who also had an ace yesterday - at the much admired 5th - and yet all he received was a pat on the back!