Liam Nolan keeps his composure amid the Irish Open madness

The Galway native finished the Irish Open tied for 31st and the third-highest ranked Irishman

Liam Nolan: 'That’s what I'm most proud of this week, how I held it together mentally.' Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady

Liam Nolan’s last appearance before coming home for this Amgen Irish Open was the Vierumaki Finnish Challenge, a tournament on the second-tier HotelPlanner Tour where he finished in a tie for 50th and earned €1,260.

This was his debut at his national open. It was being played on the west coast of Ireland, just a short enough drive from his homeplace in Galway, and there was the added madness of Donald Trump’s visit all spooned into the mix.

You could be spooked by all that. Nolan wasn’t.

“That’s what I'm most proud of this week, how I held it together mentally, even after I had a triple bogey late into the round on the first morning and was able to bounce back and put a good Friday together and make the cut.

“Any time I got kicked out there, I was able to just put it behind me quickly.” 

The 24-year old carded three rounds in the 60s and a 72 on day one that was spoiled by that triple bogey. He finished the week as the third highest Irishman out of the ten that started out the week and half-a-dozen of whom didn’t survive the cut.

He didn’t come here with any expectations. He doesn’t go anywhere with any expectations. He turns up, plays the course by himself on a Monday, plays at the same time every Tuesday and then sees where his game is at come the Thursday.

It worked well enough here, even if he gave his birthplace much of the credit.

“Probably being born and reared in Galway where it's blowing a hooley all the time [helped]. Really helped flighting irons in there and keeping control of my golf ball that maybe some guys would struggle with. Growing up in the west of Ireland really helped me this week.” 

Another help was his experience in playing in The Open at Royal Troon as an amateur two years ago.

“It was like Christmas Day, wanting to see everything and do everything, and I made a point with my caddie that we're just going to treat this like any other tournament that we play.

“Obviously it's huge. It's an Irish Open in the west of Ireland for me, especially, but not to hype it up and try harder, pretty much, just to do what I do week-to-week and see where we go from there.” 

The prizemoney will come in handy but he’s more pleased with the experience that comes with playing at an event like this in what is only his second year as a pro and one that has been solid rather than spectacular so far.

A good week, then, but now for another.

“Yeah, I have five [HotelPlanner] events left. I'm flying to Portugal tomorrow for a week, and then I have a week off. Then UAE, then into China for two events, and then Majorca to finish. So, yeah, one last push and see where we end up at the end of the season.”