O'Hern has point to prove

Australian golfer Nick O’Hern is in no mood to forgive the Royal and Ancient Club for what they did to him over the British Open championship.

And the better he plays at this week’s Irish Open the more he will think he could have been a contender at Royal Troon last week.

O’Hern went into today’s second round at Co Louth on eight under par and joint leader with compatriot Peter Lonard.

“I was pretty annoyed I didn’t get in last week – I think that place would have suited me down to the ground,” said the 32-year-old left-hander from Perth.

In January, O’Hern pulled out of the Open qualifier in Melbourne because of a knee injury. He assumed that because his withdrawal came before he teed off in the event he would be able to enter another qualifying tournament.

But he was told by the R&A that was it and his only way into the championship was to earn an exempt spot. He just missed out.

“Their explanation was that I wasn’t allowed to re-enter because people may do it if they were not playing well at the time. But I had all the medical evidence and they wouldn’t see reason.”

Now, O’Hern is looking ahead. Not just to this weekend and what he hopes will be his first European tour title after three second places - the most recent of them in the French Open last month - but also to next month’s US PGA Championship. He received an invitation to that on Wednesday.

Lonard did play last week and missed the cut, but he literally has a new look on things now.

Seven years ago – and four years after contracting the Ross River Fever virus which prevented him from playing for three years and left him with the vision of a 60-year-old – he underwent laser surgery.

In recent weeks Lonard was felt the vision in his right eye was deteriorating and contacted the Moorfield hospital in London.

“I phoned them on Monday on the off-chance they could see me as I thought something was not quite right,” he said. “They stuck me in on Tuesday, fiddled around and I had to go back Wednesday morning for some follow-up stuff. It was 50-50 whether I could play this week, but they gave me the all-clear.”

The pair finished the first day two ahead of another Aussie, Brett Rumford, Scot Stephen Gallacher and England’s Simon Wakefield.

Favourites Darren Clarke and Padraig Harrington resumed today six behind.