Oldcorn aims for rehabilitation

Andrew Oldcorn casts an envious glance towards the US PGA Championship which begins at Hazeltine in Minnesota today, aware that 12 months ago he was teeing it up with world golf's elite.

The intervening year has been little short of a nightmare, injury and illness ravaging his game and siphoning his confidence.

At Hazeltine he would have been a small fish, swimming among the sharks but here, at Ballyliffin in Donegal, he represents the pre-eminent golfer in world ranking terms (126) as the North West of Ireland Open, a double badge tournament incorporating the European and Challenge Tours, gets under way.

Not that the Scot feels that he is the player to beat this week. "The last 12 months almost from the time that I came back from the US PGA last year have been disastrous. I got the injury the week after Munich. It is amazing when you think that this time last year I was at the US PGA in Atlanta and here I am now trying to find my game.

"Hopefully I will be back at the US PGA again because that is where I want to be. No disrespect to this tournament but I am here to build for the rest of the year. If I do all right here then so be it but I haven't got any more expectations other than making the cut and trying to progress from there."

Illness has pockmarked Oldcorn's season, the most recent spate of misadventure stretching back to the time he was forced to withdraw at Slaley Hall after two rounds, at the time a couple of shots off the lead. He missed the two tournaments in Ireland, having added an ear infection to his list of ailments. Throw in a back injury earlier on in the season at Dubai and he could reasonably seek sponsorship from a pharmacy for next season.

Oldcorn is determined to rehabilitate, his game that is, and is looking forward to taking on the Glashedy links. "I heard it is fantastic and that prompted me to enter on the deadline last Thursday rather than take this week off and go to Switzerland."

Indeed the course is enjoying many first-time suitors, lavish in their praise. Fellow Scot Andrew Coltart pointed out: "I need to play more and it is great to have the opportunity to come here and play on a links course, which we don't get to play very often - a very good links course at that. It is a break from the normal grind of playing on tour. You have to think about a lot of your shots out there and it changes hole to hole, day to day.

"I had heard a lot of good things about it (the course) and it lives up to those things. It is a classic links and I have always enjoyed playing those."

There is a significant Irish challenge, 12 to be precise, not including the Scottish-born, Royal Dublin assistant professional and Irish PGA champion, Neil Manchip.

The attendant pressure of playing on home soil will not stifle the determination of the Irish contingent, especially in-form players like Damien McGrane, Peter Lawrie and Stephen Browne, all of whom played well in the Challenge Tour event in Russia last week.

Michael Hoey, Philip Walton and David Higgins would dearly love a prominent finish in their quest for ranking points while Gary Murphy is playing well if not always being rewarded financially for the quality of his golf. One bad round has denied him top-10 finishes on the Challenge Tour. Conor Mallon, Paddy Gribben, local professional Francis Howley, John Dwyer and John Dignam complete the Irish assault on the title.

The weather forecast, blustery showers with 30-mile-an-hour gusts, combined with the quality of the course suggests that fortune may favour only the most resolute.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwean professional Marc Cayeux led his team to victory in the pro-am at Ballyliffin yesterday with a superb 12 under total of 60. Playing alongside Pat O'Donnell, Michael Donohue and John Hughes, Cayeux and his team defied 35 m.p.h. winds and showers to beat the Ian Hutchings led outfit of Paddy Purcell, Brian McElhinny and John Nelson by a single shot.

NORTH-WEST OF IRELAND PRO-AM: 1, M Cayeux, P O'Donnell, M Donohue, J Hughes 60 (£450); 2, I Hutchings, P Purcell, B McElhinney, J Nelson 61 (£350); 3, C Pottier, G Smith, C Harty, M Quigley 62 (£250); 4, S Kammann, J Keon, S Faulkner, P McShea 63 (£200); 5, E Stedman, J McInerney, L Larkin, M Brazil 64 (£110); 6, S Little, S Watson, C McCarroll, A Duffy 64 (£110); 7, M Hoey, J Callaghan, J Grant, J Sheerin 64 (£110); 8, A Coltart, D Doyle, M Lynch, B Ramsay 64 (£110); 9, A Salto, P Grimes, S Cassidy, J McElroy 64 (£110); 10, A Butterffield, R Barnell, E Fagin, J Thompson 64 (£110); 11, L James, F Harkin, P Farren, E Doherty 64 (£110); 12, R Coles, C Keegan, T Crowley, K Marston 64 (£110); 13, F Howley, D Kemmy, C Doherty, B Mullan 64 (£110).