McGeady Open invite after Italian job goes wrong

DONEGAL giant Michael McGeady feared he might have thrown away his chance of appearing in this week’s 3 Irish Open at Baltray when he faltered over the closing six holes of the Italian Open in Turin on Sunday.

McGeady stood nine under for the tournament through the last 12 holes of his final round and set to pick up the biggest cheque of his career.

But three bogeys in the last six put paid to that and also knocked him out of the top 10 who automatically earned places in the field for Baltray. He eventually tied for 17th on six under.

However, his keen sense of disappointment was assuaged yesterday when 3, appreciating the outstanding effort he had made in Turin and aware of his victory on the European Challenge Tour last year, issued McGeady with a coveted invitation to Baltray. So he joins fellow Ulsterman Jonathan Caldwell, former amateur star Noel Fox and former Ryder Cup player and Baltray resident Des Smyth who have also received invitations.

In all, 24 Irish golfers will tee it up at the Co Louth links. They are led by regular Tour players Pádraig Harrington, Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Paul McGinley, Damien McGrane, Darren Clarke, Peter Lawrie, Michael Hoey, Gary Murphy, Gareth Maybin and Jonathan Caldwell.

The top eight from the 2008 Irish PGA Region order of merit, John Kelly, Philip Walton, Robert Giles, Simon Thornton, Eamonn Brady, Damian Mooney, Barrie Trainor and John Dwyer are also included along with amateurs Eoin Arthurs (Island) and Shane Lowry (Esker Hills) and, of course, McGeady, Fox and Smyth.

Eight of the game’s top 50 have entered for a championship offering 3 million in prize money. They are led by Harrington, 8th; Lee Westwood, 16th; McIlroy, 19th; Miguel-Angel Jimenez, 34th; Ross Fisher, 38th; Oliver Wilson, 43rd; Soren Kjeldsen, 46th and McDowell, 50th.

It is also of interest to note the rankings of a number of other big name players in the field. For instance, Colin Montgomerie, Thomas Bjorn, Michael Campbell and Jose-Maria Olazabal, all former winners, are respectively placed 176th, 178th, 235th and 436th while John Daly comes in at 451st.

Other Irish rankings include Darren Clarke, 89th; Gareth Maybin, 104th; Damien McGrane, 137th; Michael Hoey, 154th; Peter Lawrie, 165th and Paul McGinley, 166th.