McClean hoping to boost Walker Cup chances with strong performance at US Open

Matt McClean

Matt McClean chipped in for a birdie at the 18th to take the final skin in his match with Shane Lowry and Pádraig Harrington and admitted he had set no targets on his US Open debut at the Los Angeles Country Club.

The Malone man (30) won his place in the Masters and this week's US Open thanks to his win over Royal Dublin's Hugh Foley in the US Mid-Amateur Championship last year.

But after setting the target of simply making the cut in Augusta National only to miss the weekend by six shots, he's keeping his options open in Beverly Hills as he looks to impress the R&A selectors who will pick the Walker Cup team this year.

"There's nothing particular in mind," the Belfast optometrist said of his goals. "At the Masters, I was too focused on trying to make the cut, and that's where you're going to end up.

"I'll just go out and play. It's going to be a long two days, and it's going to be demanding, and you're going to be in some bad places at times.

"I'm just going to play every hole as best I can and try and make pars. That's probably the best way around here."

McClean has been in LA for a week and enjoyed multiple nine-hole practice rounds at the US Open venue as well as a spin around Riviera.

He'll be back later this summer for the Western Amateur and the US Amateur Championship, but for now, he's enjoying his second crack at a Major and looking forward to playing alongside Seamus Power and New Zealand's Ryan Fox for the next two days.

"Yes, it's been brilliant. I had a nice round today with Shane and Padraig, so it was great. Good fun. They were telling me what they can tell me. But yes, it's going to be tough.

"Shane was saying it's on the tougher end of the US Opens he's played. So you've definitely got to play really well and keep the ball in the fairway, so I will do my best to do that."

He was grinning broadly after his chip-in at the last and hopes to make a few more birdies this week.

"Yes, three at the last, not to lose more money to the two guys," he said. "The three of us just played a skins match. So I won one, so that's something."

As for the course, it's like nothing he's ever seen before, and while he finds it long, he's looking to hit fairways and take his chances from there.

"I think you have to have a straight," he said. "Even if you hit it offline and you hit it far, sometimes you can only hit it 50 yards out of the rough.

"So even if you carry it 330, if you are off the fairway, a lot of the guys are going to be struggling to get to the green."

He's thrilled with his draw, but he won't be getting distracted by Fox's long hitting.

"Yeah, I'll not try to keep up with him," he joked. "He hits it a good clip. So they should be good. I played a practice round with Seamus at the Masters, and it was pretty relaxed and pretty good fun, so it's a great draw."

The Los Angeles Country Club is a less intimidating arena than Augusta National, even if the course is arguably more difficult.

"This is obviously completely different," he said. "It's long out here and par 70 compared to par 72. A lot of par fours are par fives for pretty much everyone, including myself. So, it's long, and you've got to be accurate. But if you hit it accurately down the fairway, it will give you chances.

"I've been okay here so far. I think Augusta was tough because it's Augusta, obviously, and there's the reputation of the golf course. Even in a practice round, I was nervous there.

"Whereas here I wasn't as nervous standing on the practice, but I'm sure I'll be nervous tomorrow morning. But you know, it just sort of comes with the territory. You've got to handle it and see how you get on, but yeah, I feel I feel pretty good because it's pretty comfortable out there today."

Like the rest of the field, he has no idea what it might take to get into contention or even make the cut.

"I'm not too sure any of the guys have any idea what the scoring is going to be like here," he said. "It's just sort of keep the head down. I probably won't look at leaderboards or anything and try to avoid all that and just play as good as golf as I can play."

He's exempt into Final Qualifying for The Open at Royal Liverpool, but after missing the St Andrews Links Trophy and next week's Amateur Championship, he'd like to play well here to improve his Walker Cup selection chances.

"I don't pick the team. I'll just play the next few weeks, and then we'll find out," he said. "I'd like to be there. Put it that way."

Grinning as he headed into the clubhouse for a well-earned rest, he said: "A nice wee top-20 here wouldn't do any harm!"