The dreams are the same for one and all, ultimately that of chasing wins, but such achievements have different measures. While Rory McIlroy walked away with the victory in the Irish Open, Alex Maguire – who didn’t even know he would be in the field a fortnight ago – could consider his tied-50th place finish a significant accomplishment, a win of sorts in its own right.
The four Irish players who survived the cut at the Irish Open move forward to new missions: for McIlroy, Shane Lowry and Tom McKibbin, it is onward with some immediacy to the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
For Maguire, his sights are set on Stage I qualifying for the DP World Tour, with further steps on the ladder to be negotiated if he is to join McIlroy et all on the main stage.
Still, this past week – his tied-50th finish alongside Marco Penge, the current number to in the Race to Dubai – has shown Maguire what the promised land looks like. The €19,610 pay-day, the biggest so far of his fledgling career, will also come in mighty handy in pursuit of the Meath 24-year-old’s own dreams.
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“Coming away from the week, it’s easy for anyone to play well and say they belong out here, but I really do feel like I do belong out here,” said Maguire, who will head to the first stage of qualifying in Austria later this month.
“Looking back at the week, there are three holes in this golf course that I played in 10-over. So let’s say I play those holes in level par, all of a sudden I’m top-five, which is obviously buts and maybes, but I think I played a lot of good golf this week and I will take a lot of confidence from it.”
Lowry’s tied-15th finish at the K Club left a degree of frustration in knowing that he could have scored better but brimming with confidence for what lies ahead, firstly Wentworth and then the Ryder Cup at Bethpage.
“There’s still a lot of positives to take from it. I played really nicely and I feel like I go to Wentworth next week now with a little bit of a spring in my step with how I’m driving the golf ball. You need to drive it well around there and if I can continue that on, I’ll do all right,” said Lowry.
The Ryder Cup, though, is an inescapable topic of discussion, even in playing his final round with Thomas Detry here. The excitement is building.
“I think when we get to Wentworth next week, that’s when it’s going to start getting exciting. We’re all going to be there, players and caddies and everyone. And we have a dinner next week that we’re all going to.
“So that’s going to be the start of it and then when you get on the plane to go for your practice trip, then you’re really in it. Myself and Thomas were actually talking walking around today and he was asking me about it and I was saying, ‘I think we’ve got an amazing opportunity to do something great here’. And if we were to win the Ryder Cup, I think it would be one of the greatest wins of all time.”
