Hoey pleased as his patience ensures a steady start

It was a single aberration in a brilliant round of golf.

In his own words Michael Hoey "made a pretty legsy swing, that's my bad swing," sending his eight iron into the phalanx of spectators, perched on the steep slope to the right of the par three, seventh hole. The net result was a double bogey.

It’s a wicked little test, yielding just eight birdies, while gobbling up and spitting out the aspirations of more than a dozen players who signed for more than a bogey.

Hoey explained: “There was a wait on the tee box and everyone was going into the bunker (on the) left. I just over-thought things. It’s about hitting a good shot, it’s not crazy.”

The rest of his card was exemplary, 15 pars and two birdies, to record a level par 71, on a day when the squalls of heavy rain and gusting wind made the Royal County Down links as much a mental as a physical test.

Five times

The 36-year-old has won five times on the European Tour to date including the 2011 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship illustrating his pedigree to adapt to the demands imposed by seaside golf and further enhanced in recalling a brace of victories before turning professional, the Irish Amateur Open Championship at Royal Dublin (1998) and the British Amateur Championship over the old style links at Prestwick (2001).

He came to Royal County Down on foot of modest form this season, his best performance to date a tie for 25th place at the Shenzhen International. Two rounds prior to the start of the tournament helped him to formulate a plan, central to which, was a decision to put a two-iron in the bag this week.

“I got a two-iron out during the practice rounds. I was able to use it, something which not many guys would use and that was a good decision.

“I hit a lot of two-irons off the tee. You had to hit driver on five and nine because they’re very, very difficult holes. If you didn’t you’d be hitting two-iron and then driver.”

His birdies came on the first, where he reached the par five in two blows with a drive and five iron, and the 16th.

“There aren’t many others opportunities out there.”

He spoke about the importance of a positive mindset, trying to divest himself of the frustrations of early season and instead just concentrate on the present, paying tribute to the work he's done with coach, Johnny Foster.

“There is no point in dwelling on stuff. I was just trying to be positive. It was a typical links kind of day. The forecast was a bit mixed but that’s what you get when you’re by the sea. On one hole we were walking down the edge of the coast and the sea looked good enough to go in for a swim; five minutes later you wouldn’t have gone near it.

“You have to be patient. If you play match-play here you can be aggressive, go for everything, but in stroke play you can’t. It’s a very fair course; I thought it was trickier. There is a bit of space off the tee but it gets very narrow around the greens.”

Scoring side

As if to reinforce the notion of a consistent thought process that blocked out any extraneous information, Hoey explained: “I wasn’t getting into the scoring side of things. When you’re playing well you don’t get into thinking about your score. You just get into the good shots. And when you are not playing well, you really get into thinking about your score.

“It was just enjoyable today, trying to make good swings. You can only lose a tournament on day one and I haven’t lost it. That’s the main thing. It’s a start but I have to go out and do the same thing again.”

The next few weeks are lucrative in prize money terms and he spoke briefly about what’s on offer in Sweden, Germany, France and Scotland and the potential to turn around his season in terms of results.

Every journey begins with a single step; Hoey took one yesterday and will hope to take several more over the next three days.

If he shows the same patient temperament he will be in a good place.