McBride gets European Tour start
THE Island’s Paul McBride has been handed an amateur invitation to tee it up in next week’s €2m Porsche European Open in Hamburg.
The world No 54 is one of three amateurs invited to tee it up at Green Eagle Golf Course next week alongside his Wake Forest team mate Will Zalatoris (the world No 11) and world No 8 Sean Crocker from USC.
Many were surprised when the GUI opted not to send an amateur to the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open this year.
With all the top Irish players in action at the European Team Championships, the powers at Carton House felt it would be better to guard an ace in the hole and push for more invitations for top Irish amateurs in other European Tour events rather than going well down the pecking order.
That decision relieved the pressure on places in the Irish Open field that might otherwise have stymied Team Ireland Golf players like Gavin Moynihan or Gary Hurley, both of whom eventually teed it up at Portstewart.
Just three weeks later, McBride is getting his chance to rub shoulders with the big boys.
We understand more invitations are in the pipeline for elite Irish amateurs in the future, including the Irish Open, though McBride’s invitation appears to have come from promoters 4Sports, who already manage Paul Dunne.
The Greystones man is already in an elite field that also includes US PGA champion Jimmy Walker, former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel and US Ryder Cup star Patrick Reed.
It’s great news for McBride but bad news for the South of Ireland with the player now out of the Lahinch event.