Shane Lowry celebrated making his first cut as a pro with a fist pump but Padraig Harrington slipped deeper into the mire with his fifth consecutive failure after carding a 75 in the second round of the French Open.

Deconstructing PadraigIreland's triple major champion looks like a man who has taken a Formula 1 car apart and reassembled it again only to discover that the garage floor is covered with all sorts of "spare" parts.

Needless to say, he was as optimistic as ever about the future and reiterated his mantra that he is his own boss and that what he is doing with his game will make him a better player in the long run.

While it was his driving and his short game that cost him at the US Open, he says it was mainly his short game and putting that killed his chances in Paris and he will be focussing on that between now and the first round of the Open at Turnberry in just under two weeks' time.

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Padraig Harrington missed his fifth cut in a row at the Open de France to equal his worst run since he turned professional in 1996.

Ouch!So far this year he has missed eight cuts from 15 strokeplay starts and that's as many as he missed in 29 events in his rookie season on the European Tour.

In 2007 and 2008, when he won three majors, he missed a total of just five cuts. His most consistent period came in 2001 and 2002, when he missed just two of 46 halfway cuts. 

Tiger Woods has missed just five cuts in his professional career

55 cuts missed from 340 events on PGA and European Tour since 1996

1996 (missed 8 cuts from 29)

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Ireland will face Denmark in the Flight B final for ninth place in the European Amateur Team Championship at Conwy in Wales. They beat Iceland 4-1 but the real action came in the Flight A semi-finals where World Cup winners Scotland beat Italy 4-3 to set up a meeting with England in Saturday's final and the chance of a rare double.

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Following a 3-2 win over Portugal, Ireland will face Iceland in their bid to finish ninth in the European Amateur Team Championships at Conwy in Wales.

At the pointy end of the tournament, Norway, England, Scotland and Italy made it through to the semi-finals.

The Scots and Norwegians both came back from 2-0 deficits in the morning foursomes to beat Sweden and Finland respectively. England beat France 4.5 to 2.5 and Italy ousted Germany 5.5 to 1.5

As for Ireland, they should not underestimate the Icelanders, who beat hosts Wales 3-2.

Their dangermen are Olafur Loftsson and Sigmundur Masson, ranked 1,200th and 2,210th respectively in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

Which begs the question: Do the World Amateur Golf Rankings count for much?

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Richard Kilpatrick doesn't get many chances to strut his stuff on the Challenge Tour but he took full advantage of a rare start at the Credit Suisse Challenge in Switzerland.

Reggie and friendsPlaying on a sponsor's invitation, the 27-year old from Banbridge compiled a bogey free, four under par 69 to share sixth place behind leaders Stuart Davis and Simon Robinson of England.

Starting on the 10th at Wylihof Golf Club near Luterbach in the north of the country, the 2007 East of Ireland champion birdied the 11th before finishing with three birdies on his homeward nine.

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Ireland failed to stage the miraculous recovery they needed to continue their quest for a hat-trick of wins in the European Amateur Team Championships in Wales. Team Leaderboard 

IrelandA poor first day left Ireland in 14th pace at Conwy and they couldn't recover to finish inside the top flight of eight who will battle for the title.

Ireland finished the day in 11th place - 10 strokes behind Finland - and 38 behind top qualifiers Norway on eight over par. The result is a clash with Portugal in Flight B on Thursday.

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Padraig Harrington must feel like a broken record at this stage. He's also starting to sound like Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr in The Man with Two Brains.

And two hats.On the eve of the French Open, where he is looking for some signs of form after missing his last four cuts in a row, he confessed that time is running out for him as he builds up to the Open at Turnberry.

He said: "If I'm going to play well in The Open it's got to start now - I'm running out of time. I'm always optimistic and I still believe I am going to be ready. But, then again, I thought I would be ready for the US Open."

His driving accuracy is his main bugbear and the search for a reliable driver goes on, as he explained: "I'm still trying to find the magic stick that goes straight and long. Aren't we all?"

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Ballybunion's Emma O'Driscoll claimed the Connaught Girls Open Championship at Co. Sligo for her second Connaught title this year with a gross score of 238.

Emma O'DriscollShe beat Warrenpoint's Tara Gribben by one shot and Enniscrone's Sarah Helly by two in a tightly fought contest over 54 holes on a very testing course at Co. Sligo.

Emma won the Connacht Senior matchplay title nearly three weeks ago when she beat Sarah Helly 5&3 in the final in Athlone.

238 Emma O Driscoll (Ballybunion) 79 78 81
239 Tara Gribben (Warrenpoint) 78 78 83
240 Sarah Helly (Enniscrone) 80 81 79
246 Niamh O'Connor (Naas) 82 81 83
247 Paula Grant (Lisburn) 79 82 86
248 Carla Reynolds (Seapoint) 83 83 82
248 Chloe Fitzpatrick(The Heath) 81 82 85

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Paul McGinley jetted out to Paris yesterday desperate for a confidence boosting performance in the French Open.

Set to tee it up just an hour from Disneyland, he confessed that he’s so frustrated by his inconsistency this season that he’d take a decent performance in just about any event. The Mickey Mouse Open? Absolutely.

Is it going down the tubes? McGinley and Harrington on the slide.McGinley rapped: “I need to get some results on the board, I need to get some consistency and I need to put four rounds together.

“Whatever tournament that is I don’t care. I don’t care if it is the British Open or the Mickey Mouse Open, I just want to get some confidence by putting four good rounds together.

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Padraig Harrington insists he's not getting excited about his chances of winning The Open three years on the spin.

With just 15 days to go before he attempts the "threepeat" at Turnberry, he's more worried about finding some form.

Harrington just nine months ago.He said: “I have a lot of work to do, and I would be excited if I was on top form but no, I am thinking more about getting my game in shape.

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Padraig Harrington is turning down a potential €630,000 pay day to battle for just €5,000 in next week's Ladbrokes.com Irish PGA. Tee times

But he won't have to fight off a challenge from veteran Des Smyth, 56, who's pulled out of the event at The European Club with a rib injury.

Des Smyth is injuredOrdered to rest for three weeks by his physio, six-time winner Smyth said: "I've had a problem with the cartilage in the rib cage for the past six or eight weeks and I've been playing on painkillers.

"I was really looking forward to playing The European Club for the first time but this is the first chance I have had to take a rest after a long run of events.

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Ireland's bid for a hat-trick of European Men's Amateur Team Championships suffered an almost fatal blow on the opening day at Conwy in Wales.

Not one of the six-man side could break par in the first round, leaving Kevin Flanagan's side a massive 28 shots behind leaders England in 14th place.

What's worse is that Ireland are 12 strokes outside the top eight sides that will earn the right to battle it out for the title following Wednesday's second strokeplay qualifying round.

Matteo ManasseroItalian 16 year old Matteo Massanero, the youngest winner of the Amateur Championship at Formby just 10 days ago, rattled around in six-under par 66 to set the pace in the individual competition and lop a stroke off the amateur course record.

But it was not a day to remember for an Irish side that features several players with high hopes of making the Walker Cup side later this year.

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