Lowry ready to establish himself as a serious Tour contender

CADDIE'S ROLE:Another huge leap for caddies with formal recognition at a formal tour affair, the Players' Awards ceremony

WITH A slightly gloomy cloud due to the passing of the father of the modern European Tour, Seve Ballesteros, lingering over the Players’ Awards night held at the elegant Sofitel Hotel at Terminal 5, Heathrow, last Tuesday, it marked a new beginning for European Tour caddies. Some of us were actually invited to attend the black tie affair.

Despite our great advances from the car parks of exclusive country clubs into the comfort of the clubhouses, we have now made another huge leap forward with formal recognition at a formal tour affair. The caddie team from the successful European Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor last September was reunited at table two in the slick banquet hall of the plush hotel.

Amid the oriental canapes and Moet and Chandon Brut Imperial, twitching slightly in our stiff formal attire, it was another reminder to those veteran bagmen amongst us at the table of how far we have come for the authorities to have recognised our small contributions to the advance of the European Tour.

The theme of the night, apart from the five awards, was the Ryder Cup and the European victory in Wales. The European Shot of the Year went to Graeme McDowell. Graeme and Martin Kaymer shared the European Golfer of the Year title.

The Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year was Matteo Manassero. The Harry Vardon Trophy and the Players’ Player of the Year awards went to Martin Kaymer.

With the levelling black tie where those in vogue stood out with alternative shades of black, the player who stood out like a sore thumb was the Masters Champion, Charl Schwartzel, who was permitted, even with the stringent rules of Augusta National, to wear his Green Jacket to the Players’ Awards.

Apparently he is allowed wear the jacket only at the club or at formal functions outside the club. Presumably with the amount of international Green Jacket holders in recent years this rule had to be amended for formal functions outside the United States.

The main speaker was George O’Grady, the chief executive of the European Tour. But the most moving speaker was the next Ryder Cup captain, Jose Maria Olazabal, who gave a fitting tribute to his good friend and Ryder Cup aficionado Seve.

Jose Maria talked about the inspiration of Seve and how he motivated him to greater performances. He recounted some Ryder Cup anecdotes about the spirit of Seve during some of their many Ryder Cup fourball matches. Olazabal suggested that Seve never admitted defeat no matter how beaten he actually was.

As a finale to the evening there was an invigorating tribute played to foot-stamping Flamenco music replaying some of Ballesteros’ finest Houdini moments of his swashbuckling and successful career. Despite Jose Maria’s emotive memories he was not maudlin and we left the ballroom with relaxed bow-ties and warm memories of the great man to savour.

That was to be the end of the party for the week. The even newer and more improved Wentworth, redesigned for the third time in half a decade, proved to be a less than enjoyable engagement for players, and particularly caddies trying to suggest correct clubs for their bosses.

With the lack of rain in Britain, the severity of the West Course at Wentworth and the strong southerly wind that parched the course even more than it already was throughout the week, the jaunt around the Burma Road was about as appealing as a saunter along the real Burma Road.

The course is as severe a test of golf as any professional is likely to come up against on any golf tour. The six-under-par play-off total was a reflection of this. A visit to the dentist followed by a shave in cold water with a heavy growth and a very blunt blade would have been way more appealing than trying to guess a club for your player in a frisky southerly that capriciously affected the ball flight when it climbed above the mature trees of the exclusive Wentworth estate. Mysteries were the order of the week.

Of course no matter how difficult the conditions, someone has to prevail on Sunday afternoon. It turned out to be Luke Donald, who became the new world number one.

With Lee Westwood’s ball spinning furiously into the water at the already twice altered 18th green in the play-off, it might be time for someone with a modicum of architectural sense to deal with it for once and for all.

Anyone who teed off around two over par or better, had a chance to win. We played with the fast-maturing Shane Lowry, who found himself as leader in the clubhouse after his four-under-par finish for the final three holes.

Encouraging to the most recent course designer who has been much criticised for the changes, suggesting the finish is not as alluring to the top pros as the old West Course used to be, until the Westwood incident occurred that is. The young Offaly man finished birdie, birdie, eagle to end up two under par for the tournament .

With ball striking and a short game befitting a world-class player Lowry controlled his ball in the strong wind on Sunday afternoon.

If he missed a green he displayed delicate dexterity in chipping close to the pin and a steady hand in holing his putts.

He would appear to have become a more complete golfer after a couple of years learning a more professional approach to playing golf on tour. With an exceptionally smooth rhythm for a big man he is, at the tender age of 24, ready to establish himself as a serious contender on the European Tour.

A new status has been established for us caddies with Players’ Awards invitations. A new world number one established and there is another young Irish player getting ready to establish himself as a top contender after a fourth place finish in the prestigious BMW PGA Championship.