Invite for Fox, no place for Sugrue

PORTMARNOCK professional Noel Fox was the last player into the Irish Open 2011 field yesterday after he received the eighth and final invitation to compete at Killarney from the European Tour.

Fox’s inclusion alongside Niall Kearney, Colm Moriarty, Gary Murphy, Mark Murphy and Simon Thornton means there will be six Irish invitees this week as well as American amateur Scott Pinckney and Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg.

It also means disappointment for Killarney’s own professional Daniel Sugrue, who played in last year’s event but was determined to look on the positive side of his omission this time around.

“I’m disappointed,” said Sugrue (33). “Anyone who knows me would know the work I’ve put in to try and prepare for the tournament but the reality is, you don’t earn an invite, you get an invitation. It’s out of your control and that’s professional golf and what this is going to do is concentrate my mind on getting my European Tour card.

“The only way you get to play in the Irish Open every year is if you get your tour card and that’s the only way to control the events you want to play in. If ever there was something to focus my mind on getting it, this is it.

“I hope the tournament goes well, that the weather’s good and everyone enjoys it. Killarney Golf Club and the European Tour have put in a lot to this tournament and its success is very important to the town and to everybody involved.

“I’m in this game long enough now and there’ll be a lot of members disappointed but, look, as long as the event goes well.”

Sugrue has quickly turned his attention to next week’s 101st Irish PGA Championship at Seapoint.

“I’ll be getting ready for that and hopefully the preparations won’t go to waste and something good will come out of it,” he said.

“This will be my first Irish Championship ever, my first year at it and it’s a great event. There’s major winner’s name on that trophy, (Pádraig) Harrington’s won it a couple of times and some of the great Irish players and it’s really the flagship event for the Irish region.

“I haven’t played it but I’m going to get up there early. It’s professional golf and you move on to the next event. Focus your mind and don’t look back.”