Originally there were 9 Irish players down to play the next leg of the European Tour in Spain at the Madrid Masters which tees off on Thursday, May 27th at the Real Sociedad Club de Hípica Club de Campo. For some of the Irish players it may come too soon after 36 holes of qualification for US Open, which took place at Walton Heath on Monday, following a tough week’s work at the newly designed West Course at the BMW PGA Championship.
Dungannon’s Darren Clarke missed the cut at Wentworth last Friday and also failed to qualify for the US Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links and as result of his round on Monday has decided to drop out of the Madrid event given his poor form.
Dubliners Paul McGinley and Peter Lawrie; Clara man Shane Lowry; Graeme McDowell from Portrush; Damien McGrane of Kells; Ballyclare’s Gareth Maybin; Simon Thornton of Newcastle, County Down and Kilkenny man, Gary Murphy are all still down to play.
All but Maybin come with a point to prove as the Northern Ireland man is having a strong season adding Pebble Beach to his schedule after a round of 65 on Monday afternoon in the Qualifier.
Paul McGinley is still hurting after his round at Wentworth where he felt he deserved a better return for his efforts.
On his return to Spain Peter Lawrie is looking to repeat the form of 2008 when won the Open de España in Sevilla.
Graeme McDowell is under less pressure having remained in the top 50 after some favourable results at the weekend allows him automatic qualification for the US Open.
This season Gareth Maybin has been in the running in the BMW Italian Open and the Mallorca Open with a second place at the Ballantine's Championship in Korea guaranteeing automatic qualification for next season he can play with a more relaxed outlook this week.
Not the same for Simon Thornton who returns to action after withdrawing in Mallorca due to a back injury where he added a third missed cut in as many tournaments. Although benefiting last week from the First Re-Rank of the season Thornton has slipped down the overall rankings and is entering the business end of the season.
For Gary Murphy the season is proving a test as he works to find the form that can secure an automatic exemption for the 2011 season. Having also played at the US Open qualifier without success the pressure is mounting on Murphy having amassed a list of missed cuts in the early part of the season.
For Englishman Ross McGowan it will be his chance to defend the title as he returns to the Madrid Masters this week.
Sergio Garcia returns to action for the first time on The European Tour since playing the Masters Tournament last month. The Spaniard has made limited appearances this year, but good performances in the WGC-Accenture Match Play, where he was fourth, and at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy mean he is currently 19th in The Race to Dubai.
He will be joined by Alvaro Quiros and Miguel Angel Jiménez – already winners on the 2010 season at the Open de España and Omega Dubai Desert Classic respectively – plus Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño, whose company GFC Golf & Business are promoters of the tournament.
The event will be hosted on the Real Sociedad de Hípica Club de Campo North Course, designed by American Robert Von Hagge. The club also hosted the 2007 Madrid Open, which was won by Denmark’s Mads Vibe-Hastrup.
