Irish duo battle for place on Tour

WATERVILLE’S David Higgins and Athlone’s Colm Moriarty are continuing their steady progress towards claiming places on the regular European Tour in 2008.

A share of 10th place in the Scandinavian Masters in Stockholm at the weekend has moved Higgins up to 156th in the order of merit with a total of €115,192 to his credit. In all probability, that still leaves him €100,000 short of the amount he needs to get among the 115 players who earn cards for next year and he will hope to narrow that gap still further when he tees it up in the €1.6million KLM Dutch Open starting at Kennemar today.

Furthermore, Higgins could yet make his way back to the big time through the European Challenge Tour. He has been playing both circuits throughout the year and a recent third place finish in the Scottish Challenge bumped him up to 46th place in the rankings in the secondary flight. The top 20 qualify for the main tour in ‘08 so the 34 year-old Waterville golfer must now figure out which is the better route as he tries to avoid a return to the Tour School at San Roque.

Higgins finished strongly in Stockholm with birdies at the par five 15th and 17th holes to claim a top 10 finish. He again demonstrated his prowess from the tee, coming first in the driving accuracy category with a total of 78.8 fairways reached. He was 100% for sand saves and hit 65.3 of the greens in regulation.

After winning the Wales Challenge last month and come 3rd in the Rolex Trophy (worth €10,200) in Geneva at the weekend, Moriarty is now within touching distance of the top 20. He is up to 23rd with €35,700; €3,503 behind Francois Carmels of France, the man currently in possession of 20th — the last qualifying spot. Bridging what may appear like a very small gap isn’t all that easy given that generally speaking only those figuring in the top five for so on the Challenge Tour make meaningful money.

With most of the big names involved in the Barclays Classic — the opening event of the FedEx Cup play-offs in the US or else taking the week off — the Dutch Open offers the three Irishmen involved, Higgins, Damien McGrane and Gary Murphy the opportunity to improve their European Tour rankings. McGrane has his sights set on getting among the top 60 who gain places in the lucrative season ending Volvo Masters at Valderrama. He is currently in 65th spot with 365,953 points.

Murphy, who needed a strong finish 12 months ago to retain his card, has no such worries on this occasion as he stands 90th with €221,554 but he has set his sights a lot higher than that and is again hopeful of picking up some sizeable cheques from here to the end of the campaign.

Denis O’Sullivan and Jimmy Heggarty tied for 6th in the English Open on the European Seniors Tour at St Mellion. They picked up €6,869 each but the season continues to be something of a bonanza for Englishman Carl Mason, who was no more than a journeyman on the regular tour but now seems capable of winning almost at will on the seniors circuit. He is clear leader of the order of merit with €241, 539 to his credit.

European Tour, Irish order of merit positions: 1: P Harrington 2.138,078; 45: G McDowell 468,659; 57: D McGrane 365,953; 63: P Lawrie 323,612; 65: P McGinley 312,156; 90: G Murphy 221,554; 125: D Clarke 156,107; 156: D Higgins 115, 192.

European Challenge Tour, Irish order of merit positions: 23 C Moriarty 35,700; 39 M Hoey 25,109; 46 D Higgins 20,185; 52 G Maybin 18,270.

European Seniors Tour, Irish order of merit positions: 6 D Smyth 118,528; 23 E D’Arcy 57,764; 38th Denis O’Sullivan 39, 331; 41st Jimmy Heggarty 34, 790.