McEllhinney turns pro

Donegal's Brian McElhinney has announced his decision to turn professional at the end of the month.

The 23-year-old will make his debut in the €120,000 Challenge Tour event at Tessali in southern Italy from 27-30 April.

As British Amateur champion, McElhinney took part in the Masters last week but missed the cut after rounds of 80 and 75.

Now the former European and Irish champion believes the time has come to move on to the professional game.

He said: “I am going to turn pro at the end of the month. I was offered seven Challenge Tour invites so I decided to take them up, starting in Tessali in Italy.

“I’ve won everything I wanted to win in the amateur game more or less and I didn’t see much point in hanging around once the chance to turn pro was there in front of me.

“I’ll give it a go now this year and try and get myself ready for the European Tour Qualifying School in September.

“Until then, I’ll just try to make the most of it and try and go out and get as much experience as I can.”

Super-cool McElhinney is known as the Iceman by his rivals for his ability to play well under pressure.

And while he is not the longest hitter in the world, he knows he has the short game to score well and become successful.

He added: “I’m just looking forward to getting started now. The Masters was a fantastic experience but now I’m just excited about making my professional debut.”