McIlroy opts for some proper links practice

TOUR SCENE NEWS ROUND-UP: RORY McILROY is not part of the large Irish contingent which will descend on Paris National for this…

TOUR SCENE NEWS ROUND-UP:RORY McILROY is not part of the large Irish contingent which will descend on Paris National for this week's €4 million French Open, but that doesn't mean he will be staying away from the course. Anything but, in fact, as the 20-year-old Ulsterman plans to familiarise himself with the requirements of links golf as he builds up to the British Open at Turnberry in just over a fortnight.

McIlroy plans to play Royal County Down and Royal Portrush at some point this week, and may add in another practice round at Turnberry next Monday en route to playing in next week’s Scottish Open at Loch Lomond.

“I think the major thing on links courses is the shots you play around the greens, because you have so many tight run-offs and you have got so many chip-and-run shots,” said McIlroy. “You could be putting from 10 yards off the green. So I think you sort of get a real feel for it the actual week you are there.”

McIlroy would prefer if the wind didn’t blow for the duration of the major. His reason?

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“I’d like it benign. Most links golf courses need a little bit of wind for their protection, (but) I feel, if it’s calm, I can shoot a really good score. That means that all the rest of the players will shoot a good score as well, but I would rather have it that way,” he insisted.

McIlroy, who consolidated his position at third in the European Tour money list with a tied-15th finish in the BMW International in Munich, may be absent from this week’s French Open, where Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal is the defending champion, but there remains a very strong Irish challenge for the title with Pádraig Harrington, Graeme McDowell, Paul McGinley, Damien McGrane, Darren Clarke, Peter Lawrie, Shane Lowry, Michael Hoey, Gary Murphy and Gareth Maybin all competing.

Harrington is seeking to regain some form, having missed the cut in his last four tournaments.

“I have to forget about the last few weeks and concentrate on the weeks ahead,” said the Dubliner.

Of his poor showing at the US Open, his last outing, Harrington also observed: “There were very few positives to take from it . . . . the only one that I could really see is that my short game was coming back.”

The defending British Open champion will fine-tune his game for Turnberry by playing in this week’s French Open and, then, defend his Irish PGA title at the European Club in Co Wicklow next week.

Harrington and McDowell are part of a group of players from the world’s top-50 competing in France, along with Miguel Angel Jimenez, Martin Kaymer, Soren Kjeldsen, Ian Poulter, Alvaro Quiros, Jeev Milkha Singh, Lee Westwood and Oliver Wilson.

Jimenez will reach the notable milestone of his 500th European Tour event, only the third Spaniard to join the 500 club, after Santiago Luna and Miguel Angel Martin, and the 19th player in total.

A seven-strong Irish contingent – Michael McGeady, Stephen Grant, Gareth Shaw, Richard Kilpatrick, Colm Moriarty, Alan Murray and Noel Fox – are competing in his week’s Credit Suisse Challenge at Luterbach on the Challenge Tour.

Philip Reid

Philip Reid

Philip Reid is Golf Correspondent of The Irish Times