Down to the wire at Gleneagles

WITH ALMOST 300 players on our list not in action in the penultimate week of the competition, another 70 missing the cut at the Wyndham Championship and only 14 scoring double-digit points, it was never going to be easy for our leading contenders to produce a bit of a surge.

Our top four, though, all did enough to hold on to their positions, with Kieron Hyland still our leader going in to the final tournament, this week’s Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles. But both Bryan Crowley and John Paul Scallon managed to narrow Kieron’s lead, the pair picking up 93 and 75 points, respectively, compared to the 50 won by the Guns of Alvaro. Bryan, then, now only trails by 12 points, John Paul just another 19 behind.

“It was all a bit of fun earlier, I got a great kick out of it,” said Kieron yesterday as he pondered his final set of transfers, “but it’s a little more serious now.”

And it really would have proved a whole lot more leisurely for our Rathfarnham manager if his first week “quick pick” hadn’t been so successful – it gave him a line-up that included Masters winner Bubba Watson. Tiger Woods’s win at The Memorial, when Kieron was one of the few contenders to have him on board, was another boost, as was having four in the top 10 at the British Open.

But it all goes down to events at Gleneagles, the winners of our prizes – €15,000 for first, €5,000 for second and €2,000 for third – unlikely to be decided until the final round.

For the managers just outside the top three – including fourth-placed Aideen Flynn, 23 points behind John Paul, and Sandra Griffin, who rose from 13th to fifth thanks largely to Sergio Garcia’s Wyndham victory – transfer decisions this week can only have been agonising, all probably compelled to take a few gambles on outsiders, rather than opting for those likely to be in the top three line-ups.

“So the top part of the leaderboard could turn upside down,” admits Kieron, in the event of those outsiders coming good. He’s far, then, from resting comfortably in that top spot, and like his challengers faces a rather nerve-racking weekend – even more than the players with an eye on a Ryder Cup place, we’re sure.

With his team down in 960th place, Will Morrissey, alas, is not in overall contention, but he did at least win some golf merchandise by being the top performing team at the Wyndham – Will had five of those 14 players who earned double-digit points, including Garcia.

Our overall contenders could, needless to say, do with a weekend just like that. Best of luck to you all – hang in there.