Flashes of brilliance before fab four fall on blades

The Irish Open drew to a disappointing close yesterday — at least for those willing an Irishman to victory.

That’s not to say the Irish did not play well this week. Leading lights like Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy all played very well in bursts but, ultimately, all would have been extremely disappointed with their performances on a putting surface which yielded plenty of birdies.

Yesterday was meant to be Harrington’s day — victory would formally welcome him back as a major global force. His opening bogey lost him considerable ground to the field but worse still was his failure to capitalise on some wonderful approach play throughout his round.