Home players await Baltray call

TOUR NEWS:DISPENSING SPONSOR'S invitations for next week's 3 Irish Open at Baltray is a slow process, and has left several Irish players with tour cards in their pockets – either on the main tour or the Challenge Tour – on tenterhooks.

So far, just three invitations have been handed out: to John Daly, to Italy’s Emmanuel Canonica and to veteran Co Louth golfer Des Smyth, who nowadays plays on the European Seniors Tour with occasional forays onto the Champions Tour in the US.

But the next generation of Irish tour player awaits the divvying out of the last few invitations with a mixture of expectation, hope and not a little trepidation.

Jonathan Caldwell is the only Irish player with a full tour card who is not automatically into the field, which indicates the strength of entry, although the Ulsterman is playing in this week’s Italian Open where a top-10 finish would secure him a place in his home championship.

If not, it is expected that Caldwell, in his rookie season on tour having come through last year’s Q-School, will get a late “wild card” invitation.

Others waiting anxiously for a call include Challenge Tour players Michael McGeady, Gareth Shaw, Noel Fox, Colm Moriarty and Alan Murray.

Not all of the young crop can be satisfied, however, as the final number of invitations will only be decided after the Italian Open determines which players not previously eligible secure a spot from a top-10 finish . . . and there are more players looking for invitations than there are available. Some will lose out.

As things stand, next week’s Irish Open over the Co Louth links already has 20 Irish players definitely playing: 10 tour players (Pádraig Harrington, Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Paul McGinley, Damien McGrane, Darren Clarke, Peter Lawrie, Michael Hoey, Gary Murphy and Gareth Maybin), one invitee (Des Smyth), seven from the Irish PGA order of merit (John Kelly, Philip Walton, Simon Thornton, Eamonn Brady, Damian Mooney, Barrie Trainor and John Dwyer) and two amateurs (Shane Lowry and Eoin Arthurs).

Despite the Irish Open coming directly after this week’s Players Championship, no fewer than six of those competing at Sawgrass have committed to next week’s €3 million tournament in Baltray, with Englishmen Ross Fisher and Oliver Wilson and Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen joining Harrington, McIlroy and McDowell in the field.

Interestingly, two others from the world’s top-50 have stayed away from Sawgrass but will be competing in Baltray. Lee Westwood and Miguel Angel Jimenez have made the decision to miss The Players for scheduling reasons, but will return to tournament action in the Irish Open ahead of the following week’s BMW PGA championship at Wentworth.

Golf fans who register at www.3irishopen.ie before this Sunday can avail of complimentary entry to the first round.

There are five Irish players in action in this week’s Italian Open. Clarke, who returned to life on tour for last week’s Crowns tournament in Japan, where he missed the cut, is joined by Murphy, Maybin, Caldwell and McGeady in the €1.3 million tournament.