Drogheda battler Des Smyth faces the biggest challenge of his career this month – the scramble for a US Seniors Tour card.

The 49 year old can clinch his meal ticket to the Senior US PGA tour and then head back and play there when he turns 50 February next year.

“It will be an interesting experience but I’m not making plans yet because I’ve got a big job in front of me and it’s not easy,” said Smyth.

“I’m playing in the Madrid Open next week and then I’m going over to Florida the following week for a regional qualifier in Jacksonville.”

If Smyth makes it through regional qualifying he will have to finish in the top eight at the final qualifying school to get a card and a ticket to the big time.

But the truth is that the pressure is off Smyth thanks to his historic win in the Madeira Island Open last year.

“I’m one of the lucky ones. I’m exempt for the main tour next year because of my win in Madeira and I’m also exempt on the European Seniors Tour.

“I’m not that worried because I knew that by winning last year all those pressures were taken off me.

“I’ve been playing without much pressure on my game and I’ve been enjoying my year because of all of that.

“I have to be honest and I guess I lost my edge a little this year. You keep trying to pretend that you should get out and do it. It’s like playing a friendly match – the tackles are different.”

As for the on going controversy over the captaincy of the Ryder Cup side for the K Club in 2006, Smyth is becoming frustrated by the politics.

Since Europe’s great win over the US at the Belfry, the tide seems to have turned against the chances of a veteran Irishman like Smyth, Christy O’Connor or Eamonn Darcy taking the role in 2006.

“The qualifying criteria used to be that you had to be a former Ryder Cup player. Now they say you have to be close to the players. The next thing they will be saying is that you have to have won the Order of Merit,” Smyth complained.

“I’ve been saying this all along. I’ve seen this script all along and it’s not going to be easy to get an Irish captain.

“We have to make our mind up if we want it. We have to make our mind up to keep the pressure on for an Irish captain.

“They are throwing the baton between Eamonn and Christy and I and I knew this would happen. We should be looking for an Irish captain and I don’t mind if it’s not me but how are you going to pick him.

“If you pick one guy he could do something wrong in the next 18 months and scupper the whole deal. What we have to do is decide on an Irish captain.

“The fact is that these are all side shows. You have to be a Ryder Cup player to be a captain of the team and the fact is that they have never had an Irish captain and that’s the disturbing fact.”

Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley have all publicly supported Smyth for the job but the Drogheda man wonders if that will be enough.

“They will be a very big influence. They are fairly passionate that they would like to see an Irish captain too but the committee hasn’t even picked the person who will captain the team in the US. We are jumping the gun a little.”

(Mac and mac)
Young gun Graeme McDowell is set to join the big names on the world stage this winter.

The Rathmore wonder kid will join Tiger Woods, David Duval, Darren Clarke and Sergio Garcia in the Dunlop Phoenix Open in Japan starting on November 18.

He will then play in the Casio World Open the following week as he bids to boost his world ranking.

“It’s been an amazing year for Graeme,” said his manager Chubby Chandler. “Back in January who would have thought that he would be where he is now.

“With a two year exemption for his win in Sweden he can pick and choose his events, so he’ll probably play a few in the US early next year and play a schedule similar to Jose Maria Olazabal’s.”

Meanwhile Ryder Cup hero Paul McGinley is also set to build up his air miles yet again.

“He’s a star again,” said Chandler. “He is now a very well know player around the world after the Ryder Cup.”

McGinley plays in next week’s Madrid Open but will then miss the Italian Open because his wife Allie is due to give birth of their third child.

After the birth the Dubliner will then head for the Volvo Masters before playing in the TSL Open in China and the BMW Asian Open in Taiwan before finishing the season in the Word Cup in Mexico with Padraig Harrington.

Clarke will play the Volvo Masters and the Dunlop Phoneix Open heading to Sun City for the Million Dollar Nedbank Golf Challenge from November 28 to 1 December.

(Darcy unhappy)

Eamonn Darcy’s hopes of making it big on the US Seniors Tour have hit a snag.

The 50-year-old Wicklow man can’t get any invites to play in the US before the dreaded tour school

Darcy had been hoping to get some sponsor’s invitations for the former Ryder Cup star and his pal Des Smyth.

“I’m very disappointed,” said Darcy. “I was hoping to get at least one or two before the schools starts.”

Darcy now plans to play in next week’s Story Seniors Tour Championship in Portugal before heading to the regional qualifying at a Florida course from November 5-8.

Only the top eight players will get cards at the PGA SENIOR TOUR finals in Florida from November 19-22.

(Get lucky)
Are you a superstitious golfer? Tips from author John Courtney in his book “Be Lucky – Golf Improvements for the Superstitious” could help you shoot that dream score.

Even top stars have their eccentricities. Jack Nicklaus always uses a broken tee on par threes, Tiger Woods wears red shirts on Sundays and Chi Chi Rodriguez uses three different coins to mark his ball depending on whether it’s an eagle, a birdie or a par putt.

(Ireland)

Ireland's men's amateur team is in action in the World Amateur Team Championship in Malaysia on Thursday - the first time that Ireland will take part as a separate entity.

Previously the Irish players were part of the Great Britain and Ireland team selected by the Royal and Ancient.

Noel Fox (Portmarnock), Colm Moriarty (Athlone), Justin Kehoe (Birr) will play with Andrew McCormick (Scrabo) as a reserve.

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© Brian Keogh 2002

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