Singh sizzles on the lakeshore

GOLF: IRISH OPENTHE FAIRYTALE will require some twists and turns if a happy ending is to be inveigled into reality.

The four Irish winners of Major championships were forced to take a place in the shadows in yesterday’s first round of the Irish Open at Killarney Golf Fishing Club.

Instead, the day was dominated by a reinvigorated Indian, Jeev Milkha Singh, and a blast from the past in the form of former US Open champion Michael Campbell.

Conditions were close to ideal for players in the €1.5 million tournament, with barely a breath of wind, and Singh, dogged by a succession of injuries in recent seasons, assumed the lead with a sizzling 63, eight-under-par, that at one stage promised even greater dividends.

When Singh hit an approach to 12 feet on the 15th, at which stage he was already eight-under on his round, he dared to dream of becoming the first player to break 60 on the European Tour. It was not to be, as he only parred his way home from there.

“I don’t know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing,” he remarked of allowing such thoughts be entertained, “but it did cross my mind . . . but I’m still happy (with a 63).”

Why not? With the receptive greens yielding birdies – but with course management also important, with players paying the price for missing greens in the wrong spots – players could adopt an aggressive game plan.

Singh did it best of all, finishing with a two-shot lead over Frenchman Alexandre Kaleka, with New Zealander Campbell in a three-way tie for third a shot back.

For the home contingent, Challenge Tour player Colm Moriarty upstaged the Major quartet of Darren Clarke, Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Pádraig Harrington.

For Ireland’s big four it was generally a frustrating old day at the office. Clarke, with two birdies in his last three holes, salvaged a 69.

But McIlroy, who at one stage led the tournament when he got to four under through 10 holes, unravelled on the homeward run which culminated in a double-bogey six on the 18th. He signed for a 70.

In the match behind, McDowell had 72, while Harrington, who dropped three shots on his back nine, opened with a 73.

Of them, Clarke could feel most satisfaction. “My self-inflicted flu has not quite gone away yet,” admitted the 42-year-old.

But he still mustered a strong finish, with birdies on the 16th and 17th that gave credence to his assertion that, “I didn’t come down here to make up the numbers.”

McIlroy mixed brilliance with mediocrity, epitomised by two incidents: on the 14th, he played a miracle recovery shot from thick rough.

Blocked out by a large tree, he purposely hooked the ball some 40 yards to find the putting surface and enthral the huge galleries.

Conversely, on the 18th, he ran up that six when he found a bunker with a three-wood off the tee (most players took irons), then compounded the error by putting his approach into the pond.

The rustiness in McIlroy’s game was evident. He hit only four of 15 fairways and found only 11 greens in regulation. Not surprisingly, he put in some work on the range afterwards with his driver and three-wood.

“I was caught in two minds quite a few times out there, which isn’t usually like me,” conceded McIlroy.

At least Clarke and McIlroy found themselves in red figures at day’s end. McDowell, who got some pre-round physiotherapy for a sore lower back, felt the stiffness impeded him on some iron shots.

“I wasn’t clearing my body very well. It’s not alarm bells, just a little bit of stiffness,” said McDowell, who steadied his round with birdies at the 14th and 15th, only to bogey the long 16th.

For Harrington, a round that seemed to be headed in the right direction, reaching the turn in 34, one under, fell apart with three bogeys in four holes from the 11th.

“Maybe I need to be a bit more patient, (but) it’s hard. I was trotting along at one-under, thinking I could get to four-under, and obviously it turned around very quickly.”

The Dubliner will need to ensure he first survives the midway cut before setting his sights any higher.

Singh, a three-time winner on European Tour, most recently at the Austrian Open in 2008, has been bedevilled with injuries in recent years. Last week, in Sweden, where he had his first top-10 finish of the year, there were signs of a return to form that once had him as a fixture in the world’s top-50.

Now down at 209th, the 39-year-old has taken to yoga and meditation to revitalise his career. Of his problems with back injuries, Singh said: “They simply said I play too much and that’s why I get injured so much. But I just love playing.”

The alternative form of therapy is clearly working, for Singh fashioned a front nine of just 31 strokes, highlighted by an eagle three on the seventh, where he hit a five-wood to 30 feet.

He then had a hat-trick of birdies from the 10th, before adding another birdie on the 14th.

There, though, it all dried up. For 14 holes, it had been magic.