Lowry on points duty in South Africa

SHANE LOWRY isn’t the sort of player who physically writes down his goals for a season. But he does have them, and the Offalyman is aiming to use the two pre-Christmas tournaments in South Africa – both of which count on the new 2010 PGA European Tour season – to make further upward movement in the world rankings.

Lowry, 138th in the world, is playing in this week’s Alfred Dunhill Championship in Leopard’s Creek and next week’s South African Open championship before his winter’s break, which will involve further off-course, in-the-gym work with his physical conditioning coach Eric Miller, the former Ireland rugby international.

“If I do well, I’ll jump up (the world rankings,” observed Lowry, adding: “Down in South Africa, there are decent fields, with (Ernie) Els and (Retief) Goosen playing, so you’ve a lot of players from the top-50 in the world and it brings the points up.”

Lowry has added a new sponsor – Teligence, a worldwide specialist providing services to the telecommunications and broadcast industries – to his shirt for as he prepares for his first full season on the tour having turned professional in the aftermath of his 3 Irish Open victory at Baltray when still an amateur last May.

There is a five-strong Irish contingent competing in the Alfred Dunhill, with Lowry joined by Damien McGrane, Michael Hoey, Gareth Maybin and Gary Murphy. Niall Kearney, who turned professional after securing his Challenge Tour card at the recent Q-School, has entered but, at 14th reserve, is unlikely to get the call.

This week’s tournament starts the 2010 Race to Dubai, which will feature a minimum of 47 tournaments, including six new events: the Africa Open, at East London Golf Club (January 7th-10th); the Avantha Masters at New Delhi, India (February 11th-14th); the Hassan II Golf Trophy at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, Rabat, Morocco (March 18th-21st); the Open Cala Millor Mallorca at Pula GC, Spain (May 13th-16th); The Vivendi (September 23rd-26th) and the Andalucia Masters at Valderrama, (October 28th-31st).

The full schedule was released yesterday by the PGA European Tour, including confirmation the flagship BMW PGA will take place over the redesigned West Course at Wentworth on May 20th-23rd (Pádraig Harrington has confirmed he will play in the event, having opted out this year), while the 3 Irish Open at Killarney on July 29th-August 1st will take place immediately after the Scandinavian Masters and before the Bridgestone Invitational.

A special family season ticket (two adults, two children) has been launched for the 3 Irish Open at a cost of €50 for the four days of the tournament, available through ticketmaster outlets or online.