This game can be cruel, or kind. It can give, and take. Yesterday, as the first round of the Irish Open commenced under grey skies, which released periodic outbursts of rain that enabled the Montgomerie Course to ask some serious questions of those with designs on the ultimate prize, the unpredictable nature of the professional circuit was exemplified by the multiplicity of those who finished up at the business end of affairs.
Among them, a Swede who has yet to win on tour! A new first-time father, who hadn’t played competitively for a month! A home bird, who knows every blade of grass! An American seeking to conquer Europe! A revitalised Dane! A club professional! And, if it all made for an eclectic lot, the flipside was evidenced by the struggles of others; most notably that of world number two Rory McIlroy.
It just went to show: on any given day, who can truly tell what will happen?
Oscar Floren – ranked 755th in the world – claimed the first-round lead with an opening six-under-par 66 that gave him a one shot lead over a quintet of players that featured Michael Hoey, Shane Lowry, Peter Uihlein, Joost Luiten and Jean-Baptiste Gonnet on a day when 15,282 spectators, about half the size of the crowd who attended the first round at Royal Portrush a year ago, arrived with sun cream only to require waterproofs and umbrellas.
If the weather proved to be unreliable, at least Lowry – who lives on the estate – proved utterly dependable. A winner of this title as an amateur in 2009, Lowry came in with a weight of expectation and shouldered the burden manfully. As Thomas Bjorn, one of his playing partners and who triumphed when the championship was last staged here in 2006 put it, "(Shane) played brilliant. You can see he believes he can play this golf course".
Cart before horse
Lowry was not one for putting the cart before horse, after a first round that started with a bogey that proved to be his only dropped shot. It was as if that bogey on the 10th kicked him into focus, and his round subsequently featured no fewer than six birdies including a hat-trick from the 13th.
“We’re only a quarter-way through,” remarked Lowry, who explained: “I was just trying to play my way into it, and not start playing my way out of it. You can easily shoot 75 out there in the blink of an eye by not doing too much wrong.”
Much has changed in the past four years, since he made one of those life-changing impacts in this very tournament. Then, and now? Much has changed. “I went up to Baltray just happy to be there and tried to enjoy every minute of it. I would have been happy going home with four rounds under my belt but, obviously, I came away with a lot more than that.
“This week and ‘09 is like chalk and cheese. The preparation going into it is different. I wasn’t going to Baltray trying to win the tournament. And you can say I’m coming into this week trying to win the tournament.”
Lowry – who admitted he was "chomping at the bit" heading to his first tee – played beautifully from tee-to-green, and needed just 27 putts in an exhibition that put him straight into contention, although he wasn't the only home player to impress: Hoey, whose wife Liz was induced and gave birth to a daughter last week, hasn't played a tournament since the BMW PGA in Wentworth last month but showed little rust in joining the Offalyman on the 67 mark.
Enthused by galleries
In finishing with a birdie on the 18th, Hoey, who missed only one fairway in a demonstration of accuracy off the tee, had prepared for the championship with rounds on an array of northern courses – Castlerock, Royal Belfast and Shandon Park – and claimed to be enthused by the galleries.
“For us, this atmosphere, this many spectators is what it’s about. You know, we play in China and some places and there’s no people watching. But this is what it’s all about.”
And Hoey, whose biggest tour win came in the Dunhill Links in the 2011 Dunhill Links, admitted that the new arrival into the family had given him perspective. So, the gameplan from now on in? “Just patience, one shot at a time . . . it’s a marathon, but I’m in really good position. If I keep swinging with the same rhythm, hopefully I can contend.”
In all, 10 Irish players managed to shoot sub-par rounds to be nicely positioned after the opening round. Pádraig Harrington, one of those to shoot an opening 71, wasn’t impressed with his approach shots – particularly a couple of loose wedges – but pointed to his driving as a key.
“My routines were not as solid as they should or could have been,” admitted Harrington, who nevertheless recovered from two bogeys in his first three holes to avoid any true damage.
As Graeme McDowell, another who signed for a 71, put it, “this is a difficult golf course. You have to play well. You have to avoid the bunkers and you have to scramble well”.
In short, it asks questions of a player. Yesterday, those with aspirations to the title jockeyed for position. The race, as Lowry observed, was only a quarter-run.
