Making the cut McNamara’s mission

A year ago on the eve of his 27th birthday, Cian McNamara gazed at the Irish Open scoreboard during the first round at Carton House with stars in his eyes.

There he was up there, better placed than many of golf’s greatest like fellow Irishmen Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Pádraig Harrington and on level terms with Jose-Maria Olazabal, eventual champion Paul Casey and Thomas Bjorn.

“This is beyond my wildest dreams,” he rejoiced on leaving Carton’s 18th hole with a four-under-par 68 under his belt and with every chance of surviving the halfway cut the following day.

Alas, it was not to be and eventually he missed out by two shots. Even so, most observers were impressed that a club professional from Monkstown could have performed to such a high level, even if he was downcast returning to the day job.

“In the first round, I didn’t know what to expect,” he said yesterday as he savoured the magnificent ambience of Fota Island before starting out on a practice round.

“I felt very comfortable and had the same mindset as if I was playing a pro-am at home. I was kind of surprised and went with it and had a great score. I was so happy at how I felt out there. I did have the worry that I was going to feel tense but I didn’t. It was like a normal event and I enjoyed playing in front of a crowd.

“I was so excited and I suppose I was thinking, ‘I can do this again’. Looking back, the tee time being later on the following day and the weather being rough, I had too much time on my hands. I was definitely more nervous on day two because I knew I had something to lose. I keep going back to a putt on 13. I missed a short one there and had it gone in, there was no problem about the cut. I three-putted the next from nowhere and then three-putted again and it was gone.”

McNamara insists he feels completely at home in Fota where he has played a lot of golf over the past few months.

“I’m playing 100% better than last year and I know I am comfortable here,” he enthused. “If I play well, I will make the cut and if not, I won’t. Last year I didn’t know the standard, all I wanted to do was play golf and not let myself determine my score, get uptight and end up playing badly because of my mood. And I did that and even in the second round I didn’t get in my own way.

“For this year, my goal is to make the cut. I’m here to do well and make money for myself. I’ve been practicing for this all winter and playing events I normally wouldn’t have played. I feel I have enough practice done, it’s a matter of going and playing.

“The venue is brilliant. They have a super academy and Kevin Morris has been great to me, letting me practice and play, I know this place as well as anyone. I’m comfortable here and there will be no surprises.

“Yeah, I’m the local boy but I don’t think there will be extra pressure. I think people understand that I’m working as well so it’s not like I’m playing golf every day. They are here to support me because they know that I’m keeping a few things afloat, my playing and my coaching. The move to Cork has been brilliant.

“The members of Monkstown are really super. They like me to go and play events, not all clubs are like that, and I’m sure they’ll be out this week to support me.”