Simon Thornton of Team Ireland rejoins the action on the European Tour this week having not made the entry list for the Omega European Masters in Crans-sur-Sierre and playing a series of one day events on the Irish PGA Region with Damien McGrane - carding some low scores - will be a good omen for his Dutch trip.
At the Christy O’Connor Jnr designed Concra Wood course in Castleblaney Simon Thornton beat the field in the one day event with a four under par round of 68 to set a new course record.
Damien McGrane won the Sigma Wireless Communications Pro Am at Naas Golf Club with a round of 62.
Both players now join Ryder Cup Vice Captains, Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley in Holland for the KLM Open as part of an Irish field that also includes Peter Lawrie, Michael Hoey and Gareth Maybin – who all made the cut last week in Switzerland - and Shane Lowry, who failed to stay the weekend in Crans Montana.
Martin Kaymer and Louis Oosthuizen, the last two Majors Champions, also play with Kaymer the highest-ranked player in the field following his victory in the US PGA Championship.
Also included in the field will be Robert Karlsson, 2007 KLM Open champion Ross Fisher, Alvaro Quiros, Francesco Molinari, Darren Clarke and Jeev Milkha Sing.
Robert-Jan Derksen, Joost Luiten and Maarten Lafeber head a list of 15 Dutch players aiming to win on home soil.
This 91st edition of the tournament is runs for from September 9th – 12th at the Hilversum Golf Club.
Tournament sponsors KLM, ABN AMRO, Deloitte and organiser THIS IS GOLF have been working towards making the tournament carbon-neutral and as an example is KLM’s compensating for the flights of the players with its CO2-zero programme, in which the CO2 emissions for each flight are calculated and compensated for by investing in clean energy projects.
At the tournament, the players will be transported in A-rated BMWs which use less fuel.
