Tour update: Purcell, McElroy, Kennedy, Sugrue, Galbraith show form; Leona and LET crew on the up
Anna Foster. Picture: Tristan Jones/LET
Leona Maguire sees improvement in her game despite recent results, while Dermot McElroy, Max Kennedy, James Sugrue and John-Ross Galbraith are hitting form. On the LET, Lauren Walsh and rookies Anna Foster, Annabel Wilson, Sara Byrne and Canice Screene return to action this week in Tenerife.
DP World Tour
Last week - Austrian Alpine Open presented by SalzburgerLand
Conor Purcell closed with a four-under 66 in Salzburg on Sunday to finish T56 but fell four places to 139 in the Race to Dubai rankings.
He was fourth for driving accuracy in the Netherlands, sixth for GIR and 48th for scrambling.
This week: KLM Open, The International, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Conor Purcell makes his 25th DP World Tour appearance in the Netherlands this week looking to make a move in the Race to Dubai rankings.
The Dubliner (27) has made six of 13 cuts this season, including four of the last six, and appears to be on an upward curve after missing the weekend is six of his previous eight starts.
Dermot McElroy
HotelPlanner Tour
Last week — Challenge de Cadiz, Iberostar Real Golf Novo Sancti Petri, Cadiz, Andalucía, Spain
Dermot McElroy (31) ended a frustrating run of form with his best result on the HotelPlanner Tour since he finished runner-up in the Rosa Challenge Tour in Poland last September.
Rounds of 70-73 -67-67 left him T3 on 11-under, just two strokes behind winner Rocco Repetto Taylor of Spain.
McElroy, who had missed six of his previous eight cuts this season, leapt to 47th in the Road to Mallorca standings, just outside the top 46 who will provisionally qualify for the season-ending Rolex Grand Final.
Royal Dublin rookie Max Kennedy (23) enjoyed his best finish since he turned professional late last year, shooting three rounds under par as he finished T14 on six-under.
Kennedy is now 85th in the Road to Mallorca standings and in position to challenge for a place in the Grand Final later this year.
Liam Nolan (+3), Robert Moran (+3), Mark Power (+6) and Jonny Caldwell (+7) missed the level par cut.
Nolan remains the best placed on the Irish in the Road to Mallorca standings. The top 20 will be awarded DP World Tour status at the end of the season
Road to Mallorca - Pos. (Starts)
8. Liam Nolan (9)
47. Dermot McElroy (8)
78. Mark Power (5)
84. Jonny Caldwell (7)
85. Max Kennedy (9)
165. Alex Maguire (4)
208. Daniel Mulligan (3)
This week — Swiss Challenge, Golf Sempach, Lucerne, Switzerland
Mark Power, Alex Maguire and Liam Nolan have received invitations and will be joined in Switzerland by Dermot McElroy, Jonny Caldwell and Max Kennedy for the 12th of 28 events on the schedule before the Rolex Grand Final.
Ronan Mullarney. Picture: Alps Tour
Alps Tour
Last week - Week off
This week — 2025 Alps de Andalucia-Roquetas de Mar, CdG Playa Serena, Roquetas de Mar, Spain (€42,500)
Ronan Mullarney, Robert Moran, Marc Boucher, John Murphy, Michael Young and Hugh Foley are in Spain this week for the 9th of 17 events before October’s Grand Final.
The goal is to make the top 5 in the Order of Merit who will be awarded HotelPlanner Tour cards.
Mullarney, Moran and Foley are inside the top 21 in the standings and know they may need to win at least one event to have a chance of contending for promotion.
Order of Merit Pos. (Starts) Top 10s
12. Ronan Mullarney (8) 2
17. Robert Moran (8) 2
21. Hugh Foley (8) 2
68. John Murphy (7)
81. Michael Young (5)
Clutch Tour
James Sugrue. Picture: USGA
Last week — THE STROMBERG MASTERS | BELTON WOODS
John Ross-Galbraith finished solo 2nd on 11-under (£5,000) and moves up 24 places to 8th in the Order of Merit.
The top 3 Players earn a full card for the 2026 Hotel Planner Tour, while players ranked 4th-6th earn 7 starts each on the Hotel Planner Tour in 2026.
The top 4 players on 13 August will be exempt to the Second Stage of the DP World Q School.
James Sugrue was T18 at Belton Woods on four-under (£715.56) with Niall Kearney T30, Marc Boucher T42 and Noel Murray 50th.
Tom Dowdall (+3), Paul McBride (+4) and Robert Brazill (+4) missed the level par cut.
Order of Merit (starts)
6. James Sugrue (8)
8. John-Ross Galbraith (8)
24. Robert Brazill (7)
29. Daniel Mulligan (3)
37. Paul McBride (8)
50. Mark Power (3)
73. Jack Madden (2)
T85 Tyler Hogarty (1)
90. Niall Kearney (2)
102. Marc Boucher (6)
132. Noel Murray (2)
This week: THE CADDY COMPS CHAMPIONSHIPS, CLANDON REGIS (£50,000)
Scoring https://clutch-registration.golfgenius.com/pages/11117580900064302494
John-Ross Galbraith continued his hot run of form when he fired a bogey-free eight-under 64 to share the first-round lead at Clandon Regis.
The Whitehead golf shares top spot with Samuel Byford, one shot clear of Hanbury Manor’s Joe Brooks.
James Sugrue was the next best of the Irish, T9 after a 68 with Balcarrick’s Cobor Murtagh and Robert Brazill, T20 after 70s.
Lauren Walsh of Ireland during the second round of Joburg Ladies Open, 3-6 April . Credit: Tristan Jones / LET
Ladies European Tour
Last week - Free
This week — Tenerife Women's Open, Abama Golf
Lauren Walsh and rookies Anna Foster, Annabel Wilson, Sara Byrne and Canice Screene fly the flag in Spain this week.
Walsh (24) is the best-placed Irish player in the Order of Merit at 11th following the first nine events thanks to top 10 finishes in the Lalla Meryem Cup (T4), Joburg Ladies Open (T4) and the Dutch Ladies Open (T8).
Foster is an excellent 40th after making seven cuts from seven starts, with two of her three top-20 finishes coming in her last two events in the Netherlands and France.
The Elm Park golfer has made the cut in every event she’s played since missing out on her debut in last year’s KMPG Women’s Irish Open at Carton House.
Wilson (24) is 58th in the Order of Merit with six cuts made from eight starts.
Byrne lies 68th after just four starts as she’s also played on the second-tier Epson Tour in the US.
The Douglas golfer (24) has missed two of four cuts and will be keen to reproduce the kind of form that saw her contend for victory in the season-opening Lalla Meyrem Cup before fading to T27 after a closing 77.
Screene (23) does not have full status, but after finishing T11 and T22 in her first two starts in the LETAS, she was T32 in the Dutch Ladies Open before missing the cut in the Jabra Ladies Open at Evian Resort in her last start.
Leona Maguire plays her tee shot on the seventh hole during the second round of the 2025 U.S. Women's Open. Picture: Kathryn Riley/USGA)
LPGA - Leona sees improvement despite results
Leona Maguire takes a break this week after missing her third cut in a row at last week’s US Women’s Open.
She left Erin Hills buoyed by her performance, where two bad breaks led to a double bogey on Thursday and a triple-bogey on Friday to miss the cut by three.
She will scout the KPMG Women’s PGA venue, Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco in Texas, this weekend before playing next week’s Meijer LPGA Classic as a warm-up.
She then plays the Dow Championship, the KPMG Women’s Irish Open and the Amundi Evian Championship.
"I played actually quite well at Erin Hills,” Maguire said on Tuesday in a teleconference for the Women’s Irish Open.”I had two bad holes that made the score look worse than it actually was. It's probably the best I've driven the ball in about two years."
Maguire also recently changed putters and looks to be getting back to her best on the greens, while she’s also experimenting with drivers, searching for the ideal model.
“We've been chopping and changing quite a few drivers, and I stuck with one last week,” she said.”After Mexico, I flew up to the US Open early and spent a decent while on the range with Shane on FaceTime. There were a few things he thinks he'd noticed.
“He'd been going back through old videos, old old footage of what I was doing when I was driving the ball really well. We had a drill that I was doing last week, and it really just helped me get through the ball a bit better. I’ve been doubling down on that this week to even get it dialled in even more.”
