Fox hopes to use his local savvy to survive big game

If good wishes were the ultimate arbiter of victory then Noel Fox will be crowned Nissan Irish Open champion come Sunday - although he might be challenged about enjoying an unfair advantage.

One of Ireland's top amateur golfers, the 29-year-old is a long time member of Portmarnock Golf Club, that plays host to the championship and as he meandered between the range and putting green before setting off on a practice round with Michael Hoey yesterday, he drew more recognition than many of the professionals.

Fox does not burden himself with expectation, although there are plenty of others to champion his cause, if the numbers that have been ringing in pursuit of tickets are anything to go by. He laughed: "I think my number is actually the ticket hotline and it's not the number that's been advertised. People I haven't seen in 10 years have been ringing."

It is hardly surprising he has been sought out by some of his former amateur team-mates, Hoey and Graeme McDowell in particular, to offer a crash course in taming one of Ireland's premier links. Perfectly placed to speculate on how the golf course will measure up against a professional examination, Fox alights on the weather as a huge factor.

"The course is in brilliant condition, probably a much fairer test than they had last week. They haven't had the sprinklers on here in months. It's quite soft. It's like the way it is in September as opposed to what you'd normally expect in the summer," he says.

"The greens are excellent, they might be a fraction slow for these guys but they're very true. If the wind stays down I expect the scoring to be quite good, even though the course has been lengthened substantially.

"If the wind blows then the winning total could literally be anything. Depending on how bad the weather is it could be like Muirfield (the British Open) on the third day last year."

The prevailing wind is south westerly, blowing slightly right to left off the tee, and there are two schools as to what would be preferable for the four days to guarantee good scoring.

Fox explains: "A lot of the members like it when the first three (holes) are downwind because 17 will also be downwind. But these guys (the professionals) would prefer the three par fives to be in range because it would give them birdie chances. It would favour them on six, 13 and to a certain extent, the 16th.

The Irish international is unconcerned about who he is drawn with. "They're all great golfers. If you put a bag over their heads on the range all you would see was a lot of great swings. They just rifle one ball after another. For any amateur who is an aspiring professional they should come along here and just look at these guys hit balls."

The day had not been without its lighter side as Fox recalled an incident involving Denmark's Thomas Bjorn, down on the range. "He was about to walk over and sign a few autographs there. Some little kid goes, 'that's the guy who lost the British Open', out loud. He (Bjorn) took it in really good spirits. He pretended to walk away but walked back and that kid's was the first autograph he signed."

Enjoying a sabbatical from the pressure of trying to guarantee a place on the Britain and Ireland team for the Walker Cup clash with the US at Ganton in Yorkshire later this year, the Dubliner harbours modest ambitions for this week.

"I just hope I can play well and not get too distracted and too caught up in the whole thing. I just want to play to my potential and everything else will fall into place. The big battle is just to get in a nice relaxed state on the first tee. Obviously making the cut would be my objective."

His game is "good" and he has enjoyed a relaxing couple of weeks since the Europeans. Another positive pointer to a productive week is a stroke average this season in competitive events (amateur) of 70.4.

Like all well prepared sportsmen there is a contingency plan. "If I did miss the cut I'd tee it up in Lahinch (The South of Ireland Championship) on Sunday."

But Fox has the big hitting game, the talent and the local knowledge to flourish.