WITH business arrangements sorted out for the week, Brendan McGovern set off for Wentworth yesterday from his home in Kells, three days before he is due to challenge for the £1 million Volvo PGA Championship. As resident professional at Headfort, his aspirations are modest, certainly by comparison with experienced compatriots on the European Tour.
"My target is simply to make the cut," he said.
That would be something of an achievement for the former Portmarnock assistant, given that he has yet to complete four rounds there, after four attempts. Which explains his early departure and a willingness to make a considerable financial outlay on the venture, by bringing along his caddie.
"By any standards, it's a long course - and I wouldn't be included among the big hitters in Irish golf, he said. But I'm greatly encouraged by my recent performance at Slieve Russell, which even the longest hitters found to be a very demanding course.
In fact for a second successive year, McGovern finished fourth in the championship, carding admirably consistent rounds of 72, 71, 72, 74 for an aggregate 289 - one over par. And a comparable achievement at Belvoir Park 12 months previously helped him ultimately to number one position in the Irish order of merit and, consequently, a place in this week's event.
Playing in the PGA can be a humbling experience for club professionals, as Karl O'Donnell of Newlands discovered last year when he carded rounds of 83 and 80 to miss the halfway cut of 145 by 18 strokes. Still, he was in good company: David Feherty, Christy O'Connor Jnr, Stephen Hamill, Ronan Rafferty, Des Smyth, Raymond Burns, Eoghan O'Connell and David Jones also failed to survive.
For a nation that contributed so much to this championship and to Wentworth during the 1950s, Ireland has had a fairly bleak return from the event in recent years. There has been no Irish winner since Harry Bradshaw triumphed at Llandudno in 1958, though there have been play off defeats, most recently by Des Smyth against Rodger Davis 10 years ago.
Bradshaw and Fred Daly graced Wentworth with distinction in the Ryder Cup matches of 1953 when they were the only home partnership to gain a foursomes win. Then The Brad went on to beat Fred Haas by 3 and 2 in the final singles. Almost inevitably, Christy O'Connor also made a telling impact on the so called Burma Road by setting a record aggregate of 274 to capture the 1959 Daks Tournament there.
A particularly interesting aspect of Bradshaw's victory over the Maesdu Course at Llandudno came on the morning of the final, day. Three strokes behind Dai Rees entering the third round, he had drawn level with the Welshman after a birdie at the 10th. But there was a tense climax to the round when The Brad sought an official ruling as to the status of his ball which finished in a disused bunker at the 18th. The lesson of the 1949 British Open and the infamous bottle incident at Sandwich, had been well learned.
He was advised that it wasn't, in fact, a bunker, which meant he could ground his club. In the afternoon, however, the drama was all over before they reached the 18th. Level with Rees playing the short 17th, Bradshaw was on the back of the green with a wood off the tee while the Welshman was on the front edge. Harry putted six feet past and Rees hit his to five feet. After The Brad holed his putt, Rees missed and the winning gap had been achieved.
Smyth seemed destined to emulate that distinction in 1986, when he shot a final round of 68 for an aggregate of 281. But Davis holed from 25 feet at the last to force a play off. Then, in sudden death down the first, second and 18th, both competitors failed to do themselves justice.
A bogey at the last was enough to give the Australian victory. Naturally, it was a bitter disappointment for Smyth, given that apart from a first prize of £34,990, victory would also have given him a 10 year exemption on the tour. In the event, Nick Faldo was third and Philip Walton carded a best of the championship 65 on the final day to claim a share of fourth place with Sam Torrance.
Smyth will be back in action this week, as will Eamonn Darcy who also made a significant contribution to this event. When the PGA Championship was staged at Royal St George's, Sandwich, on May 23rd-26th, 1975, Darcy, still three months away from his 23rd birthday, swept into contention with rounds of 73, 67 and 69. On the final day, however he slipped to a 78 and was overhauled by no less a figure than Arnold Palmer who shot a 71 to win by two strokes.
Frog the £50,000 prize fund, Darcy collected £7,000 as runner up. And he was back in the serious money at the same venue the following year. This time, he shared runner up position (£4,500) with another legend of the game, Gary Player, both of whom were beaten by Neil Coles in a three way play off.
This is the sort of tradition which, in his own modest way McGovern is hoping to embellish. Either way, at a time of much criticism about the special invitation to Scotland's Gordon Sherry, nobody would deny that he has earned the right to be there.
