Ryder Cup talk dominates as K Club hosts sun-splashed Irish Open
POPULAR: Shane Lowry signs autographs for fans after his round. Pic Credit ©INPHO/Ben Brady
Like Monday at work after the annual Christmas party, the Horizon Irish Open has been dominated by talk of Rome and Luke Donald's plan to win back the Ryder Cup.
For those who made the team, headed this week by qualifiers Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton and wildcard Shane Lowry, it's a week to bond, hatch plans and hone their game.
For those who didn't make it, the pain remains vivid.
The K Club's touring professional, Seamus Power was forced to withdraw from the event with a hip injury that could keep him out of the game for up to 12 weeks.
But Donald was encouraging when asked about the West Waterford man at The K Club yesterday, where his predecessor Pádraig Harrington played in the pro-am with his dogs Wilson and Setanta for company, and McIlroy sprayed the ball all over the course where he claimed that spectacular win on a cold May day seven years ago.
Donald plays with Hatton and Adam Scott—two of the eight members of the world's top 50 in the field with Ryan Fox, Americans Tom Hoge and Billy Horschel and Min Woo Lee — and revealed that Power was on his call list on Sunday.
"He appreciated the call," Donald said. "Seamus understands that his form hasn't been as good lately. Obviously got off to a great hot start. Loved his commitment coming from Maui all the way to Hero Cup and got to know him a little bit better that week, and saw some of the talent that he has that led him to so much success last year in the fall.
"He's obviously a great talent, and you know, he understood that he had not played well enough and had some injury issues.
"Obviously, I spent the week with him in The Scottish Open, we were in the same house, and it was devastating that he had a hip injury. Felt something there and couldn't play.
"But then looked like he was okay for a span before The Open and played there, but obviously there's some ongoing problems. Hopefully, he sorts those out. I told him then, you're definitely good enough to be in the next Ryder Cup Team, so that should be your goal."
The Englishman made his press conference appearance just a few minutes before the defending champion Adrian Meronk, who got no questions about his win at Mount Juliet last year as all interest focussed on his missing out on selection for Rome.
"I was expecting the call because they told me they are going to call me regardless," said Meronk, who is using his Ryder Cup 'snub' as motivation. "So I was in quite a good mood to be honest. I was on the train coming from Switzerland. Had a nice finish.
"To be honest, I was in shock, yeah, because I was expecting I have a pretty decent chance to be on the team, but it was a quite shocking call."
What he said next put his pain in full context.
"I heard from him that it was tough for him, as well," Meronk said. "To be honest, when he said I'm not going, I kind of stopped listening."
He added: "Monday, the first half of the day was more sadness and disbelief. But then anger, yeah, because to be honest, the last year and a half, I spent a lot of time thinking about this and that was my goal."
McIlroy explained he is just "90pc, 95pc" fit after suffering a back injury at the Tour Championship.
That might mean Lowry ending up as the leading Irish player as he seeks a convincing performance in the build-up to Rome.
But it's also a big week for the remainder of the nine-strong Irish contingent that includes a back-in-form Kinsale man John Murphy, Challenge Tour star Conor Purcell, Jonny Caldwell, rookie winner Tom McKibbin, amateur Alex Maguire and his former Walker Cup teammate and newly-minted professional Mark Power.
The 23-year-old Kilkenny man has joined McKibbin and Murphy in the JMC management stable and he's praying his Walker Cup adrenaline kicks in today after the inevitable come-down period following last weekend's defeat at St Andrews, where he won three points out of four.
He makes his Horizon Irish Open debut alongside Nicolas Colsaerts and his former Wake Forest and Walker Cup teammate Alex Fitzpatrick, hoping to make a similarly strong start to his professional career.
"That was a strategic draw, so we'll be trying to feed off each other," the two-time former Irish Boys champion beamed.
Seeing Fitzpatrick, brother of Ryder Cup player Matt, finish 17th in The Open, win on the Challenge Tour and finish second and fifth in two other DP World Tour events has given Power the belief he can do well.
"It definitely is encouraging," he said. "I've played alongside him for three, four years, so it's cool to see how well he's doing, and now I have that opportunity to do something similar."
The Kilkenny star is confident he will be up for it today with Leona Maguire's caddie Dermot Byrne on his bag.
"It's great," Power said of his invitation. "It is honestly the ideal start for me. I had a great week last week and it obviously opened a few doors. I am very grateful to Horizon for the invite. I've played The K Club a bunch of times and I am really excited to get started."
He's also delighted to have Byrne as a caddie for one week only and hopes to learn what he can before he tees it up at the First Stage of the European Tour Qualifying School in Austria next week.
"Dermot has obviously got commitments; he was free this week and has so much experience it was a great chance to get him on the bag and try and show me the ropes a little," Power said.
"I am doing Q-School next week and just try and play off invites the rest of the year. I'll see how I get on in Q-School and have some starts next year. I'll just try and get some good form and back myself."
He described the Walker Cup as "an unbelievable week", despite the defeat but admitted his energy levels are not what they might be.
"The adrenaline definitely dropped for a bit, but I'm trying to just get it back there now and get the energy," he said. "I'm sure tomorrow I'll be raring to go."
He has his fingers crossed for an invitation to the Alfred Dunhill Links later this year, but he's happy to play where he can.
"I'm happy just to take any chance I can get and just try to test myself and see what I can do," he said.
"I was hopeful of here, but I didn't find out until Sunday afternoon. So it was a nice kind of surprise afterwards."
As for his ambitions, he said: "I obviously have goals. I want to try and get my card at Q-School and try and earn as much as I can through any starts I get. But look, I'll just try and take every week and give it my best effort and see where it leads me."
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