Kearney patiently clawing his way up European Tour ladder
Niall Kearney
Niall Kearney might not get another chance to clinch his European Tour card this year, but the Dubliner takes nothing but positives from a tremendous season and can't wait for the 2022 campaign to come around.
The Royal Dublin man (33) has racked up two top-10s and another three top-25s from just 15 starts, fired two course records and compiled a sensational stroke average of 69.63, which puts him ahead of Viktor Hovland (69.64) and Jon Rahm (69.70).
He's done it all with a very weak Category 22 card, awarded to the players who made the cut but failed to win full cards at 2019 Q-School.
With the Q-School cancelled for the past two years due to Covid-19, he's been unable to plan any kind of schedule and often had to wait until 24 hours before a tournament for the green light to head for the airport.
The top 122 on the Race to Dubai will have full cards next year, but while Kearney was 118th after finishing 12th in the Dutch Open in September, he's so far down the pecking order, he was idle for a month before last week's Mallorca Open and has since fallen to 131st.
Bar the miracle of a late invitation from 72nd in the reserve list, he's unlikely to get into next week's Portugal Masters or the final regular event of the season, the AVIV Dubai Championship.
"I've been emailing people and making all the calls, but no joy," said Kearney, who is grateful that the new "Safety Net" exemption categories drafted for 2022 will recognise his performances this year and reward him with a few more starts.
"It's a little bit frustrating at this time of year because I haven't played a lot of golf the last few weeks. You're just losing a little bit of sharpness, but the good news is my stats are pretty good this year. I'm sixth for stroke average and leading the low bogey count, which shows how well I've been playing. I just didn't get enough starts."
Like Seamus Power, who joins Graeme McDowell in the PGA Tour's Butterfield Bermuda Championship this week, Kearney knows a win would solve all problems.
"The way things are now with Covid-19 and no Q-School, you really have to win to guarantee yourself a strong schedule," said the former Walker Cup star, who is grateful his father Joe has been able to caddie for him throughout the Covid era. "But I think I've been showing signs this year. I've had a few leads after the first or second rounds and a few course records, so it's just a matter now of pushing on again."
With the 2021 season looking like a lost cause bar late invitations, Kearney hopes the new system will get him starts in the three-event South African swing this side of Christmas.
"I guess we'll see then if I have a stronger card or not," he said. "It's stronger on paper anyhow now that they're honouring the Race to Dubai rather than just freezing categories again.
"I'll likely be in the new Category 18, but it could be just like being left in category 22 again next year. I guess I will find out soon if I get starts in South Africa or not."
Determined to keep going despite 12 years of tough battles, Kearney added: "You have to love it so much that it doesn't matter where you need to go to play, you just know you need to go. You just have to grin and bear it, and the good news is I've got plenty of confidence going into next year."
