This year's Irish Open winner? You may not have noticed him yet

World number 120, Jacob Skov Olesen of Denmark, is three shots behind leader Shane Lowry heading into the weekend at the Irish Open. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Antoine Rozner wasn’t a million miles from the madding crowd as he crested the enormous dune that stood a good 30 metres to the right-hand side of the 6th fairway soon after lunchtime yesterday. Not physically.

The conga lines of spectators following Rory McIlroy’s and Shane Lowry’s groups were even then passing by below, traipsing eagerly up the 13th and around the bowl of a green on the par-3 14th while the Frenchman concentrated on the ball beneath his feet.

A handful of people were watching. So close, so far removed.

Rozner must have been 70-80 ft above the green after his wayward drive, his lie compromised by the undulations and the long grass, but he stitched a scintillating iron back into the diagonal wind and landed it within less than 9ft of the pin.

That snapshot is a professional golf tournament in a nutshell.

Crowds buy their tickets and take days off to see the big names dazzle. It means many will, understandably, fail to notice the gems unearthing around them. Rozner was seven-over at that point for the tournament, just another journeyman with a magician’s touch.

A journeyman with three DP World titles, by the way. And he shot a 65.

The Irish stars and their long baggage train of followers tended to leave only driblets of people in their wake at every hole. The odd family stopping for a breather, or maybe punters camped in what they decided early on was to be their private bit of real estate for the day.

So there were few enough to see Rasmus Hojgaard and Haotong Li shoot a pair of 63s as they followed in the footsteps of Lowry’s group. And fewer again to appreciate first-hand the 64 that Jacob Skov Olesen was stitching together one collective further back.

Padraig Harrington spoke here in Doonbeg on Wednesday about how even he, a three-time major winner, has been able to slip almost unnoticed through the bulk of weeks at various tournaments down through the years.

“You can win a tournament and nobody would know you were there until late Sunday afternoon,” he said.

This happens all the time as people gravitate instinctively towards their own. Just ask Vincent Norrman, Adrian Meronk or John Catlin: all of them men who have ended this event at the head of the leaderboard after eyes had looked for stories elsewhere.

None of this is a slight on the Irish crowds.

“They appreciate golf,” said McIlroy of the home crowd on Friday. “They appreciate what a good shot is. They're very knowledgeable, very respectful, and they're enthusiastic. So when you get a combination of all that, it's a really nice atmosphere to play in.” 

Bottom line: people want what people want.

This year’s field is probably the strongest in the Irish Open since McIlroy called in all manner of favours to bring a collection of the world’s best to Royal County Down in 2015. That was when his charitable foundation acted as host for an event that had been floundering.

He saved the tournament, but the week itself got away.

Here was proof that depth of quality is no guarantee of box-office. The Irish challenge wilted rapidly after a strong start, and the international who’s who list faded into the background as a combination of RCD and apocalyptic conditions took their toll.

Luke Donald fared best of the ‘names’, his four-over par total leaving him tied for 18th. McIlroy opened with an 80 and missed the cut. Rickie Fowler, Graeme McDowell, Ernie Els, Harrington and Lowry all loitered without intent further down the list.

Others fared worse.

Martin Kaymer, the then reigning US Open champion, and Sergio Garcia, at the time the seventh best player in the world, joined McIlroy in missing out on the weekend. The winner that year? Soren Kjeldsen of Denmark after a three-way playoff.

That could still be this year’s story. Lowry turns the corner into the weekend with a three-shot cushion but with dark clouds, persistent rain and capricious winds due to return to West Clare for the bones of the third day’s play.

This could still be Niklas Norgaard’s week. Maybe Jens Dantorp’s, or Olesen’s. Exquisite players all. Men, like Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson, six back from Lowry, who know they are oh so close to forcing their way in from the margins.

“I've been lingering and having a chance to get in contention a couple of times,” said Ferguson who has won three times before on the DP World Tour. “But a bad shot here or there kind of takes you to the other side of it. But I’m very close.

“I feel like I'm playing well and just hopefully you hit that good shot at the right time and make that putt at the right moment. The margins are small out there. All of a sudden it just changes and you're right in the mix.” 

This year's Irish Open winner? You may not have noticed him yet

This week’s winner? You may not have even noticed him yet.