The magic formula of how best to prepare for a Major championship varies from player to player, although the build-up to the US Open at Chambers Bay – which is hosting one of the big ones for the first time – has particular appeal. Rory McIlroy, Darren Clarke and Shane Lowry, for instance, won't be playing again until getting to Washington State, while Graeme McDowell will fine-tune by playing in next week's St Jude Classic in Memphis.
Without a doubt, the demands of playing the Irish Open in such tough weather conditions on such a tough course will stand to players. McDowell described the test at Royal County Down as “a baptism of fire”, adding: “They always say, ‘make your preparation more difficult than the real thing.’ So, I think [the Irish Open] is going to be more difficult than the US Open. I can’t see how it gets any tougher . . . obviously Chambers Bay is going to be a unique test.”
Links golf
McDowell, though, believes those who played in Newcastle – regardless of how they finished – will benefit when it comes to the US Open, which is being staged on a course largely with links characteristics.
“I grew up [playing links golf] and I will be the first to admit that I don’t know how to play this anymore. You lose creativity and the art form that is playing golf in the wind. It’s great to come out and get punished and really play some raw golf and realise you don’t have the skill set you used to have and you might want to get back if you want to win some Open championships . . . it’s going to prepare me well for the summer [and] prepare myself for Chambers Bay,” said McDowell.
McDowell is a player still waiting to get his season kickstarted, but believes he has “turned the corner” – as he put it – heading into a summer which will have an unprecedented number of tournaments on links terrain. The Irish Open has started that run, which will also include the US Open at Chambers Bay, the Scottish Open at Gullane and the British Open at St Andrews. The US PGA is at Whistling Straits which, visually, resembles linksland but which doesn’t play like any seaside course.
Ernie Els, who travelled on from Royal County Down to Ohio to compete in this week's Memorial Tournament, also felt that playing the Irish Open would be beneficial for the US Open.
“You’re going to get all those links-type shots from uneven lies, putting in wind and sometimes rain,” said Els, who believes he will be able to cut back on the amount of practice rounds he had intended to play at Chambers Bay on the back of playing in the Irish Open.
Last-chance saloon
For Pádraig Harrington, the chance to gatecrash his way into the field for the US Open will come down to how he finishes in next week’s St Jude Classic.
The Dubliner – who failed to book his spot through the qualifying route at Walton Heath last week where he finished one shot too many – needed a top-three finish in the Irish Open to force his way in through the world rankings. Now, it will be a case of the last chance saloon in Memphis where it looks like he will again need a top-three finish if he is to move into the top 60 in the world rankings and earn a late ticket to Seattle.
There are five Irish players in the field for the Nordea Masters in Sweden this week: Michael Hoey, Damien McGrane, Gareth Maybin, Kevin Phelan and Peter Lawrie – who all missed the cut in the Irish Open – will all be aiming to bounce back.
