Sharvin wants home rule at Headfort

THREE months on from finishing as the lowIrishman in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, Cormac Sharvin (right) will be eyeing his first win on the European Challenge Tour when he tees it up in the Stone Irish Challenge at Headfort today. The Dublin resident, who has been enjoying a finecampaign on the Challenge Tour this year where he currently sits eighth on the Road to Mallorca Rankings, has aspirations of lifting a trophy on home-soil, but knows the importance of taking it one step at a time. ‘It’s been a really solid year. I feel like I’ve played myself into contention quite a lot. I haven’t won, which is something I would obviously like to do. ‘There are a lot of things that have to fall into place to win, but I feel like I’ve been putting myself in position quite a lot, obviously to do it in Ireland would be unbelievable, but I’m not going to get ahead of myself either.’ Sharvin will be able to draw from his stand-out performance at Lahinch this summer where he carded rounds of 66-69-6670 to finish in a tie for 15th place at the Rolex Series event, bettering the likes of Open Champion Shane Lowry, Ryder Cup Captain Padraig Harrington, former US Open Champion Graeme McDowell and rising star Seamus Power. With the top 15 players on the Road to Mallorca Rankings earning a promotion to the European Tour at the end of the season, Sharvin has all but locked up his card thanks to five top-five finishes and seven top tens so far, but every place he can climb could mean entry into the biggest events next year. As such, he is keeping his foot to the pedal as he bids to win two trophies — the Stone Irish Challenge and the Christy O’Connor Jnr Memorial Trophy, which is awarded to the lowIrishman at Headfort. ‘It would be nice to be in contention on Sunday. Hopefully I’ll draw from home crowds and maybe get myself a chance to win.’