This is what it sounds like when Doves fly

WHEN WE were watching Christian Cevaer celebrate his European Open win last weekend, we noted he was obliged to consume champagne, which always strikes us as the downside of triumphing in a major sporting event (or being a wedding guest).

We did, though, assume we were alone in our dislike of the bubbly stuff, until we had a chat with Kevin McDonagh. “Champagne is only for washing cars,” he said, and with that our delight at him winning our weekly prize multiplied.

Christian and Kevin, then, both had highly successful weekends, even if they toasted their triumphs in different ways (“A pint of Guinness or a whiskey will do me,” said Kevin). But the Frenchman’s victory, his first since 2004, counted for nothing in Golf Masters’ terms, not having in his possession a card for our particular Tour.

Kevin, though, is the proud owner of a Golf Masters’ managerial card, one that had, alas, brought him little joy so far this year.

Last week his Doves line-up sat in 2,823rd place on our leaderboard, in or around €600,000 adrift of Lorraine O’Brien’s leading total. We thought of that Prince tune: “This is what it sounds like, when doves cry”.

So, when we rang Kevin yesterday to tell him his Doves had finally taken flight, just when it seemed like their wings had been well and truly clipped, he sounded a bit dumbfounded. He even wondered if we were jesting, so flummoxed was he by the good news.

“But it’s probably all downhill from here,” he said, prompting us to admonish him for his pessimism. (But he’s most likely right).

Two of the men who finished in a group of three at the European Open, a shot behind Cevaer, were chiefly responsible for Kevin now having to plot a route from his home place of Westport to Druids Heath for his prize of a fourball.

Between them Alvaro Quiros and Gary Orr contributed €140,000 to the Doves’ total earnings for week eight, with Rory McIlroy (12th), John Senden (who tied for 18th at the Invitational in the US) and Simon Khan (a top-20 finish in Kent) his other big winners, with Greg Owen bringing up the rear with a share of 59th in Texas.

“This is what it sounds like, when doves fly,” you might say.

Kevin, who has risen 2,000 places on the overall leaderboard, was one of just four managers to top the €200,000 earning mark in week eight – congratulations (and commiserations for missing out on the weekly prize) to Brendan Treacy, Paul Dooley and Barry Sherwin.

Lorraine O’Brien has held on to the overall lead, her Irish Invaders winning just under €100,000 in week eight. The only manager in the top 12 to earn a six-figure sum at the European Open and Invitational, in what was a less-than-fruitful week for most of our main contenders, was Pat O’Hara, with his Motorsport 5 line-up rising from 12th to fifth.

Next on our schedule is the Wales Open and The Memorial, where Tiger Woods’ 537 managers will trust that he will warm up nicely for week 11’s US Open. By winning, preferably.