Open weather jinx strikes again
But even the most hard hearted of cynics would have softened at what unfolded at Carton House yesterday.
It was simply horrific. Forty mile an hour winds gusting to more than 50 mph caused a six-hour cessation of play at 12.45pm. And when the gales relented slightly and play resumed at 5.40pm, the heavens immediately opened and lashed the players for the next 90 minutes or so.
Guess what happened as evening turning into night? The storm relented, the sun came out and the late “morning” finishers and the “early” afternoon players enjoyed a relatively balmy couple of hours until the hooter finally brought play to an end shortly after 9pm. There mightn’t have been a spectator or a television camera around by that stage but Spain’s Ignacio Garrido, three under after six, Andrew Marshall of England and Waterville’s David Higgins, on two under par after five and seven respectively, weren’t complaining!
Higgins has been playing nicely of late and justified his claim that he has been gradually running into a rich vein of form by completing the stretch in five pars and a couple of birdies.
If Nissan Ireland feel they are jinxed, who could blame them? The weather for the first three years of their sponsorship of the Irish Open was largely unfavourable. For most of yesterday, it was downright evil. A redeeming feature? Well, the people’s champion Pádraig Harrington is in the thick of the battle having completed 18 holes on one under par. Harrington is also playing well enough to suggest he can bridge the 24-year gap since John O’Leary last kept the title at home. And it’s just as well, considering that Paul McGinley has withdrawn because of injury and Graeme McDowell, four over eight at the closure, and Darren Clarke, three over after seven, may well have played themselves out of contention.
“What the weather does is to take people out of the game,” Harrington reflected. “If you get the wrong side of the draw, it can knock you out of contention. We’re pessimistic every week. We always reckon the other side of the draw is better. It’s like it’s always sunnier and the grass is greener over there, all that sort of old stuff.”
This time, though, there was merit in that jaundiced view. And he is also the kind of guy who will readily take the rough with the smooth and so he just laughed when asked if he had ever contended with worse conditions.
“We’d play 36 holes at Rosses Point during the West of Ireland and think nothing of it,” he declared as he recalled his amateur days.
“As a pro, the worst I ever came across was the Open at Muirfield in 2002. Those holes were life threatening. I don’t know what kind of weather later tonight and tomorrow will bring so all I can say is that I’m happy to be under par at this stage.
“I played well, my only bogeys were three putts, and the hole that gave me most trouble (the sixth, his 15th), I chipped in. The old saying is that you can’t win the tournament on Thursday but you can lose it comes to mind. Maybe the guys who play today will have an advantage but at one under, I know for sure I’m still in it and as always it will come down to the last nine holes on Sunday.”
Peter Lawrie was going like a house on fire early in the day when he completed his first six holes in three under par. The conditions then seemed to completely overtake him and he birdied five of the next six and eventually slumped to a 75. That number is far from a disaster, even if it pales somewhat compared with the 73 of former British Amateur champion Michael Hoey. Colm Moriarty, 77; Stephen Browne and Gary Murphy, 78, needn’t feel ashamed of their scores in such vile conditions.
Seventy-eight players still have to complete their rounds today, beginning at half-past seven.
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