Simpson eager to build on Players triumph

WEBB Simpson jumped from 41st to 20th in the world rankings with his victory at the Players Championship on Sunday, still far from superstar territory in a sport with room for only a handful of household names.

Tiger Woods, at 42, will no doubt dominate the golf landscape until he retires while 20-somethings Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy have all occupied top spot at a young age.

Masters champion Patrick Reed and Dustin Johnson, World No.1 before Thomas deposed him on Sunday, were all but ignored by fans, media and the television cameras alike at TPC Sawgrass, so Simpson would seem to have

Big lift: Webb Simpson

little chance of being more than a 24-hour story.

If capturing a US Open at 26 did not earn Simpson fame, a Players Championship six years later is unlikely to do so either.

But he is among a group of players fractionally below the top echelon, capable of winning when they put all facets of the game together at the same time.

Simpson probably would have won more than five times on the PGA Tour but for the rule change two years ago that banned anchoring long putters against chests.

“I’ve never putted this well in my life,” Simpson said after cruising to a four-stroke victory with an 18-under 270 total.

“This is probably the first time I can say I’m glad they banned it (anchoring), because I probably wouldn’t have ever swayed away from the belly putter. To unlearn a skill in the middle of your career was the biggest challenge.

“I want to build on this and be in contention more in big tournaments. I think this will help.” DAVID Higgins is chasing an unprecedented treble this week at Dromoland Castle in the PGA Irish Club Professional Tournament (May 16-17).

Victory in the two-day event sponsored by Carr Golf, DS Automobiles and Monami Construction would secure a third win in a row for the 45-year-old.

“It would be a great thing to add to the CV and I would love to do it,” said Higgins. “If you win three in a row at anything you are doing something right. I would be delighted to do it, especially around Dromoland Castle.”

Higgins won his first Irish Club Pro title in 2016 at Dunmurry Springs, edging out Michael McDermott (Grange GC)

Familiar face: David Higgins

in a play-off, and then made it two in a row last year at Dromoland Castle, carding a pair of 72s to win by three shots.

The Co Clare venue proved to be a real challenge last year as unseasonably warm weather dried out the course.

The defending champion isn’t expecting anything similar this year, but is still braced for a tough examination.

“It’s a difficult course to score on regardless of the conditions,” he added.

“It doesn’t give you a lot of birdie chances and there are quite a lot of difficult shots.

“A lot of the newer courses are not so demanding off the tee. Guys can stand up and just whack it where they want which takes away one of my strong points, accuracy off the tee. Dromoland doesn’t suit that type of player.”

The action gets under way with a pro-am event today.

Round one of the PGA Irish Club Professional Tournament starts at 8am tomorrow.