Lowry focuses on attractive targets

GOLF TOUR NEWS:SHANE LOWRY isn't immune from indulging in reality checks. Of course, the greatest one came with his win, as an amateur, in last year's 3 Irish Open. From not having a ranking at all, he moved straight into the official world rankings at number 168; and, now, his fourth-place finish in the Abu Dhabi Championship, has immediately kick-started his year by propelling him into the world's top-100 – in 89th position – and within tantalising touching distance of some early-season objectives.

If Lowry can break into the world’s top-64 after next week’s Dubai Desert Classic – or, most probably, the top-65 given that world number one Tiger Woods isn’t expected to take his place in the field – then the 22-year-old Offalyman can well find himself in the field for the Accenture Matchplay in Arizona, the first world golf championship event of the season.

In actual fact, the cut-off point for the Matchplay is the Los Angeles Open – where Pádraig Harrington will resume tournament play after his winter’s break – on the US Tour, which clashes with Dubai. It means Lowry has two tournaments, this week’s Qatar Masters and next week’s event in Dubai, to make sufficient world points and achieve yet another milestone.

While the Accenture is now very much an achievable target if he can maintain his form from Abu Dhabi for the next fortnight, Lowry has also given himself other targets which include making a bid to get into the field for the US Masters.

The top-50 in the world after the Bay Hill Invitational at the end of March will earn an invite.

Lowry has moved on to the Qatar Masters for the middle leg of his three-week swing in the Gulf, where he is joined by an Irish contingent that also includes Graeme McDowell, Peter Lawrie, Damien McGrane, Michael Hoey and Gareth Maybin.

That tournament, which starts on Thursday, also offers a healthy smattering of world ranking points as the field includes seven of the world’s top-14 players, including the Abu Dhabi winner Martin Kaymer who has risen to a career-high sixth.

With Kaymer jumping to sixth and Ian Poulter breaking into the world’s top-10 for the first time after his runner-up finish to the German, Rory McIlroy has slipped down one spot to 11th in the latest rankings.

The 20-year-old Ulsterman isn’t playing in Qatar, instead opting to play an invitational charity tournament – the Saadiyat Beach Classic – in Dubai later this week, before resuming tournament play with the defence of his Dubai Desert Classic title next week.

McIlroy’s focus after that will be on America, following his decision to take up his US Tour card this season. Following his outings in Dubai, he has a schedule in the States that takes in five tournaments in the run-up to the US Masters at Augusta.

McIlroy’s intinerary includes the Accenture Matchplay (where he made an impressive introduction to the US golfing public last year, reaching the quarter-finals before losing to eventual champion Geoff Ogilvy), the Honda Classic, the WGC-CA Championship, the Bay Hill Invitational and the Houston Open the week before the Masters at Augusta.

In actual fact, McIlroy won’t be playing a tournament in Europe until the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in May, as he has two other American tournaments – the Quail Hollow Championship and the Players Championship – pencilled in as his post-Masters events.

Of his third-place finish in Abu Dhabi, which marked his seasonal return after the winter, McIlroy admitted, “It was a great way to start the season, (being in the) last group and going down the last (hole) one behind and getting the juices flowing again . . . . hopefully that will set the tone for the rest of the year . . . . I’ve got nothing but positives (to take away).”

McIlroy played in the Al Naboodal Invitational in Dubai yesterday, an 18-hole team event that also included Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Graeme McDowell, so he didn’t exactly have a day off. For McDowell, it was a warm-up ahead of resuming tournament play in Qatar having missed the cut in Abu Dhabi by one stroke.

Interestingly, Charl Schwartzel will be seeking to join some legendary names when he rejoins the tour for the Qatar Masters.

The South African – who took last week in Abu Dhabi off – has won his last two tournaments, the Africa Open and the Joburg Open, and he will attempt to become only the fourth player in European Tour history to win in three consecutive appearances (following the example of Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods) when he tees it up in Qatar.