‘I’ve had many a dark day wondering what I was doing out there’

THE more putts that dropped, the more the crowd swelled around Colm Moriarty. This, he said to himself, is where he wants to be.

Of course, he acknowledged that the thousands lining the Killeen Course at Killarney weren’t there to watch him. Major champions Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell were in the groups immediately ahead and were the focus of almost all the attention. However, as the Athlone man’s name appeared on the leader board and inched towards its summit, spectators took more and more notice until a great roar exploded over the 18th green as his sixth birdie putt of the day dived into the hole.

It meant Moriarty had made it to four under par and was tied for the lead in his own national championship. Hard to take in but it helped that Moriarty had been in a similar position previously. In 2005 at Carton House, he opened with a 69 to stand in second place before eventually going on to tie for 13th and earn €30,100, the biggest cheque of his career.

When it comes to the odd appearance on the European Tour, Moriarty looks perfectly at home; the problem since turning professional seven years ago is that he hasn’t done sufficiently well on the secondary Challenge Tour to claim a card in the big time.

“Obviously it’s great to be leading the Irish Open and to see your name at the top of the leaderboard”, he said. “I was just trying to focus on playing well out there this morning. When you’re playing well, it seems easy. I was quite comfortable coming here, we have a house rented across the road and just went out to play as free as I could. Obviously, my pro career has been frustrating, I haven’t kicked on as I would have expected, although there’s plenty of time yet. This is where you want to be playing week in, week out.”

Moriarty was a fine golfer in his amateur days, good enough to win one South of Ireland and reach the final of another. He arrived shortly after people like Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley and Pádraig Harrington, who had all come through the GUI ranks just like himself and had already accumulated millions each in prize money.

“Of course I ask myself why that isn’t me,” he smiles ruefully. “I suppose you have to forget about yesterday or last year and just get on with what you need to do, to keep believing you have what it takes. As soon as you get down and start thinking negatively, you’re in trouble. It is hard to keep believing, I won’t lie to you, and I’ve had many a dark day wondering what I was doing out there.

“It is tough out on the Challenge Tour … you come here and there are huge crowds, we were playing just in front of Rory today with massive crowds and you’re doing nicely and everything is brilliant. But it’s a different story out on the Challenge Tour if you’re playing early on a Sunday and you look around and you don’t see anyone.”

However, Moriarty has toughed it out. His great friend Stephen Browne pipped him for the Challenge Tour’s biggest prize in Kazakshtan in 2005 but Browne has since called it a day and returned to amateur status. Moriarty reckons he would have gained his card had he won that event but he soldiers on. “There are no excuses. I just have to get off the Challenge Tour and unless I have a really good weekend here, it’s my performances on the Challenge Tour that will get me on to the main Tour. I just have to keep plugging away.”

He’s 32 now and even though he knows there is still time to make it, he also recognises that the graph must go significantly upward in the near future. Prepared to do all he can to make it happen, he signed up as a client of the famed Scottish coach Bob Torrance, who was in Killarney yesterday to offer his advice.

“I’ve been working with Colm for a year and a half and I’ve changed a lot of things in his swing and he’s just beginning to get it together now,” says Torrance. “He’s under a lot of pressure to get his card and once he does that, he’ll be free wheeling. I wasn’t surprised when he had a good score today, not in the least. He works hard, he comes over to me at Largs (on the west coast of Scotland) and we were out there on the practice range this morning at half past six. Bloody freezing it was!”

“You make a lot of sacrifices on the Challenge Tour,” Moriarty admits. “I see my mates and my sister with families and kids and wonder.

“I’ve had a few good Irish Opens, made a few quid in last year’s British Open, maybe four or five good paydays and Tom and Breda Reid at Glasson continue to look after me, which makes things a bit easier. You’re not going to do much making 30 grand on the Challenge Tour. The Challenge Tour is not about making money, it’s about getting off the bloody thing.”