Dinwiddie in chasing pack
May 15 2009 by Tim Taylor, The Journal
ROBERT Dinwiddie, who landed five top 10 finishes during his rookie season on the European Tour last year, is at the right end of the leaderboard once again.
The former Walker Cup golfer from Barnard Castle shot a five-under 67 in the first round of The 3 Irish Open.
That leaves him four strokes behind record-breaking Italian leader, Francesco Molinari, on the rain-softened County Louth course in Baltray.
Starting on the 10th, Dinwiddie quickly made an impression with three birdies in four holes, at 13, 14 and 16.
The 26-year-old former US college star, whose 2009 season had been restricted by a torn muscle in his rib cage, said before the tournament the injury had completely cleared up.
And he added two birdies in a row at the third and fourth in the second half of his round to hand in a bogey-free card.
As an amateur, Dinwiddie was the only man in history to hold the English, Scottish and Welsh strokeplay championships at the same time.
All the region’s golfers came in under par yesterday. Graeme Storm and Gary Lockerbie both signed for two-under 70, with Kenneth Ferrie one shot further back.
Although Ferrie’s 71 left him waiting for his first sub-70 score of the season, in his eighth tournament, it gives him a realistic chance of making his first cut. Molinari’s nine-under course record of 63, containing an eagle, eight birdies and a bogey, came only 40 minutes after Swede Johan Edfors had equalled the old benchmark with a 64.
The Open and US PGA champion, Padraig Harrington, failed once again to ignite his season. Without a top 10 finish since January, he managed only a one over par 73 after losing a ball on the final hole
His closing bogey six was not his only one of the day. He also had one on the 531-yard sixth. But the Dubliner, commuting from home by helicopter, did his best to look on the bright side.
“I felt good about a lot of things strangely enough,” he said. “I will focus on that and in three months I could be on top of the world. I was always hanging on in there, but that’s how the game is. Some days it just does not go for you and some days everything goes for you. I’ve just got to stay patient.”
Northern Irishmen Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke both bounced back from two over at one stage to finish on three under and one under respectively and after two successive missed cuts, Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie, paired with McIlroy the day after he controversially described the match against the Americans as “an exhibition“, returned a 70.
McIlroy stuck by his comments after his round. Asked if he regretted saying the Ryder Cup was not that important to him, he replied: “No I don’t. It’s probably the best spectacle for golf and I would love to play but sometimes it has been taken too seriously and I would rather win a major.”
