'It's silage': Rough halts Cork teenager John Doyle's dream Irish Open start

ROUGH START: John Doyle, an 18-year-old Leaving Cert student from Mitchelstown, is the only amateur in the field at this year’s Irish Open at the K Club. Pic: ©INPHO/Bryan Keane

When John Doyle’s third shot to his first hole at the Irish Open hit the green a few feet from the hole, spun backward and missed what would have been an eagle by inches, it felt like something special could be brewing.

That feeling continued when he sank the subsequent birdie putt, and then followed it with another birdie on the 11th. Two-under thru two. Dream start.

Doyle, an 18-year-old Leaving Cert student from Mitchelstown, is the only amateur in the field at this year’s Irish Open at the K Club. He finished two-over for a round which frustrated him. It was also one in which he showed flashes of brilliance, and the ability which saw him win both the Irish Boys’ Amateur Open Championship and Munster Men’s Amateur Open Championship.

The handbrake was pulled up on his fast start when he bogeyed the 15th and 16th holes, bringing him back to level par, but Doyle showed composure and maturity to stop the rot. After his ball found the water on the 16th, he was forced to take a drop shot but then holed a tough putt to ensure he carded just a bogey.

He landed in the rough under the trees, just outside the ropes, off the tee on the 17th. Family and friends gathered, teeth gritted as they realised he’d do well just to get out without dropping a third consecutive shot. As those supporters crested a hill near the green, they saw Doyle standing over a birdie putt, 11 feet from the hole. “Would you look at this!” said one. They wouldn’t doubt him again.

Doyle missed that birdie putt. It was typical of a round in which he gave himself scoring chances but didn’t take enough. He did take one of those chances on 18 to leave him one-under heading into the turn. It was his back nine, the Palmer North course’s front nine, on which he made the mistakes which dropped him to two-over. He bogeyed the fifth, sixth, and seventh – all par-4s.

“Not very pleased,” Doyle said about his round.

“I had a poor back nine. Hit it very wayward off the tee on the back nine, I thought. Didn't really feel like I got too much out of it. Kept on hitting it into the rough, like a yard or two in. It's silage, like the rough is silage. You're not getting anything out of it, really.

“It was a lovely start. I was very nervous and actually dealt with it quite well. I just really enjoyed the whole round, still. It's such a great experience getting to play. I was delighted. A lot of people I know, friends and family came down. It was great, a lot of cheers.” 

On the seventh, the tournament was halted by a torrential downpour.

“Just chilled out, chatted away to people,” said Doyle, whose coach Michael Collins is caddying for him this week, about what he did during the break.

“I was a bit pissed off, whatever. Tried to snap out of it a bit and talk to people and not stay in my own funk.

“I was actually happy enough with the finish after the restart. I had about a 10-footer for bogey on seven, my 16th hole, when it restarted. I holed that and parred the last two, I'd have taken that.” 

Doyle’s nerves had jangled not just on Thursday morning but also in the build-up to the tournament. That anxiety was eased somewhat on Wednesday when he played a practice round with Brooks Koepka and Matteo Manassero. His inclusion in that group happened because he sought it out. Once his Leaving Cert is finished, Doyle will study at Louisiana State University on a golf scholarship. That next big step in his golf career gave him the connections to contact Koepka’s caddie, Ricky Elliott.

“I got in touch with Ricky Elliott on Sunday because my college coach, the college coach in LSU, he coached Brooks' brother and he has connections with Elliott,” Doyle explained.

“He kind of gave me the number and I said, why not? Might as well give it a shot and text him.

“It was good. Playing with Brooks and having (his coach) Pete Cowen there, I was nervous hitting shots. Brooks is a sound guy. He's a legend. He's very laid-back. It was a good way of settling in.” 

On Wednesday, Shane Lowry “bumped” into Doyle, “to introduce myself,” Lowry explained. It must be nice when it’s the major winner who’s introducing himself. Of course, Lowry knows what it’s like to be an amateur in this field.

“It’s obviously a big week for him and a nice week for him to see how he comes up against the pros on the European Tour,” said Lowry.

“It'll be nice for him to have a good week. I'm sure he's coming here to probably make the cut and play the weekend and see how high he can finish, but yeah, it'll be good for him.” 

Doyle doesn’t lack the confidence or ability it will take to reach the weekend. He knows what he needs to do better.

“Try and go again tomorrow, hit the ball a bit straighter,” he said. “Everything else is really good.”