Rory eyes summit from the Alps; Power chasing full PGA Tour status
Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy hopes "it's only a matter of time" before his incredible consistency is rewarded with his return to the summit of world golf.
The Co Down man opened with a three-under 67 to lie just four shots behind France's Mike Lorenzo Vera and Austria's Matthias Schwab as he seeks his fourth win of the year at the Omega European Masters in the Swiss Alps.
Up to second in the world thanks to Sunday's Tour Championship win, golf's $15-million-man is determined to dethrone Brooks Koepka sooner rather than later.
"I feel like when I'm playing my best I'm the best player in the world," said McIlroy, who held the number one spot for a total of 95 weeks between 2012 and 2015, leaving him fourth in the all-time standings behind Nick Faldo (97 weeks), Greg Norman (331) and Tiger Woods (683).
Mike Lorenzo-Vera. Picture: Getty
"I would like to get back there. It's been a goal of mine for a while. I haven't experienced that summit for the last four years.
"I feel like with the work that I'm putting in and the consistent golf that I'm playing, hopefully, it's only a matter of time."
Despite suffering jet-lag and fatigue after $15 million Tour Championship win last Sunday, the Holywood star mixed six birdies with three bogeys in his first appearance at Crans-Sur-Sierre for eight years.
"It's been such a big adjustment for me from the sort of golf and courses I've been playing the last few weeks to here," he said. "I felt like I did OK with it today, but didn't putt as well as I wanted to."
Lorenzo Vera and Schwab lead by one stroke from Italy's Lorenzo Gagli, Finn Mikko Korhonen and Sweden's Sebastian Soderberg but it was a trying day for Pádraig Harrington, Paul Dunne and Gavin Moynihan.
Harrington eagled the par-five 14th to go two-under for the day but bogeyed the 16th before finding water with his approach to the 18th, leading to an ugly double-bogey six and 71.
The Dubliner shares 100th place on one-over while Dunne and Moynihan have even more work to do to survive the cut after three-over 73s.
Seamus Power
Far from his best from tee to green this year, Dunne is 97th in the Race to Dubai with his two-year winner's exemption set to expire this year while Moynihan is 153rd with only the top 110 keeping their cards.
In the US, Seamus Power has one last chance to regain his PGA Tour card at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship in Indiana.
He missed the cut in the first two events of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals but with 13 of 25 cards still up for grabs, a top six finish at Victoria National Golf Club would guarantee a full PGA Tour exemption for the West Waterford man.
That’s where Power has to finish to pass the 200p-point mark that the Tour calculates will guarantee a top 25 finish in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals list. But with the 25th ranked player currently boasting just 112.667 points, it’s likely the magic number will at less than 200 points, which means that Power would need solo 14th place at worst to get 114 points.
Power finished 144th in the FedEx Cup regular season points list which means he has conditional PGA Tour status. If he fails to win one of 25 cards via the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, he would be well down the pecking order and behind the top 50 card earners from the Korn Ferry Tour regular season and Korn Ferry Tour Finals points lists, when it comes to starts on the main tour next season.
There was better news for the Irish at the Challenge Tour's weather-delayed KPMG Trophy at a soggy Millennium Golf in Belgium.
Sebastian Heisele. Picture: Getty Images
Tramore's Robin Dawson lies 13th after a bogey-free, six-under 65, just four shots behind Germany's Sebastian Heisele, who blasted a 10-under 61.
The Island's Paul McBride's was just inside the cut mark after a 68 but as Gary Hurley shot 73, Stephen Grant got to one-under after 14 holes before play was suspended due to darkness, then dropped four shots over those last four holes on resumption of play for a 74 that leaves him tied 147th.
On the LPGA Tour, Stephanie Meadow came back from two-over after six holes to card a three-under 69 and share 34th after the opening round of the Cambia Portland Classic at Columbia Edgewater Country Club in Oregon.
She’s five strokes behind Mi Jung Hur of Korea and Austalian Hannah Green, who shot eight-under 64s to lead by one stroke from Jane Park and Yealimi Noh.
On the Symetra Tour, mixed four birdies with eight bogeys in a four-over 74 to share 86th after the opening round of the Sioux Falls Greatlife Challenge in South Dakota.
Germany’s Sue Popov and American Esther Lee posted five-under 65s to lead Lori Beth Adams by one stroke.
