Fiery Fisher almost reels in historic 59

IT’S a rarity indeed when a player walks off a golf course after shooting a round of 61 and is more than a little disappointed.

However, that’s the situation 29-year-old Londoner Ross Fisher found himself in yesterday after his 10 under par course record in the 3 Irish Open moved him to 12 under par and sent him into a three-shot lead over Francesco Molinari. The Italian in turn is two ahead of a group on seven under that includes three Irishmen, Pádraig Harrington, Michael Hoey and Rory McIlroy.

Thursday’s warm sunshine was replaced yesterday by a gloomy, often drizzly day but there was another fine crowd of 17,396. Once again, there was little in the way of wind, especially in the early part of the day when Fisher was piecing his outstanding score together. Ironically, though, it did whip up for a spell as he was coming to his last three holes and may have played its part in preventing him from becoming the first player on the European Tour to break 60. He had to settle for a five at the long 16th and was unable to pick up a birdie at either of the two closing holes.