Red-hot Ulster send out a title warning

It is all to play for after day one of the Women’s Interprovincials at Cork GC yesterday.

Favourites Ulster sent out a message of intent after their 9-0 drubbing of a depleted Connacht team following the morning foursomes and afternoon singles matches.

The holders now turn their attention to a meeting with Munster. The southerners lost 3½ to 5½ to Leinster and today’s assignment is a crunch tie for captain Rhona Brennan and her team. The Bandon club lady believes Munster are well in the running.

“We didn’t get off to the right start today. It just didn’t go for us. We managed to scrape a half in the foursomes. We had hoped to get more on our home course. But, the girls put up a great fight this afternoon, and very nearly pulled it off. The big one is tomorrow. Maybe we will make a few changes for the Ulster matches. We certainly are in with a shout and won’t be giving up.”

Munster went ½ to 2 ½ down after the foursomes. Karen Delaney and Maria Dunne gave Leinster an early advantage beating Gillian O’Leary and Emma O’Driscoll on the 17th. Mary Dowling and Ariana Coyle Diez made it 2-0, overcoming Aoife Lowry and Sarah Cunningham 5&4 before Chloe Ryan and Sinead Sexton saved the day for Munster with a hard fought half opposite Deirdre Smith and Anna Courtney.

In the singles, O’Leary and Cunningham attained parity with their respective wins over Louise Mernagh and Delaney. However, Leinster answered back with victories for Dunne and Dowling. Irish U18 international Jean O’Driscoll then gave Munster a great boost beating Aedin Murphy, but in a closely fought final game Chloe Ryan had to give way to the experience of Deirdre Smith on the 18th.

Ulster, meanwhile, were too powerful for Connacht. Their excellent form was evident as early as their opening foursomes match where Leona Maguire and Charlene Reid made light work of Sorca Begley and Fiona Moclair 6&5. They led 3-0 before making a clean sweep of the singles with convincing wins for Reid, Louise Coffey and Tara Gribben.

This morning all eyes will be on the foursomes. The action gets underway at 8am and the first match between Ulster and Munster at 8.30am is sure to draw the crowds with Maguire and Reid pitted against Emma O’Driscoll and Karen O’Neill.

lMeanwhile, Matteo Manassero hopes history will repeat itself when the Maybank Malaysian Open gets under way in Kuala Lumpur today. The 18-year-old Italian returns to the course which saw him secure his second European Tour win last year, hoping to build on that.

This week’s event is part of both the European and Asian Tours and pits Manassero against some of the best golfers in the world.

Having played nine practice holes at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club on Tuesday, Manassero is confident he can emulate last year’s performance which saw him beat Gregory Bourdy and Rory McIlroy to win the title.

“I have a good confidence level at the moment and I think I am playing the best I have done for a while, probably the last eight months or so,” he said.

If he is to defend his title, he will have to overcome Masters runner-up Louis Oosthuizen, last year’s Masters Champion Charl Schwartzel and the 2010 US PGA Champion Martin Kaymer. Oosthuizen is keen to leave his Masters heartache behind him and maintain his excellent recent form when he tees off in Kuala Lumpur.