Right on the Marc
Warren’s big wish is to outfox top guns
IF Marc Warren picks up the Irish Open trophy ahead of hot favourites Danny Willett and Rory McIlroy tomorrow, it won’t create quite the same shock waves as Leicester City winning the Barclays Premier League.
The Rangers supporter from Rutherglen already has three European Tour victories to his name, after all. However, he does have a footballing omen on his side which could yet see him outfox the big two, Claudio Ranieri-style.
Carrying Warren’s bag at the K Club is Ken Herring, a huge fan of the newly-crowned English champions who, just for this weekend, has adorned the Scot’s three-wood with a Leicester City headcover featuring a furry fox wearing the famous blue shirt.
Asked yesterday whether it could be the good-luck charm that helps him secure victory here, Warren — who will be keeping tabs on Rangers in their Scottish Cup Final clash with Hibernian at Hampden today — broke into a wry smile.
‘I’d like to think it’s going to happen,’ he said. ‘But, if it does, it definitely wouldn’t be as big a shock as Leicester’s win.’
After shooting a superb six-underpar 66 to earn a share of the halfway lead with Masters champion Willett — with McIlroy just a shot further back — Warren’s confident outlook was understandable.
He’s still the outsider of the three, though. McIlroy may not have won this year but he’s had four top-10 finishes, while Willett’s climb up the world rankings has been meteoric for 15 months since he won the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa.
By comparison, Warren has missed six halfway cuts in nine starts on the European Tour this year. That all changed with a quite fabulous round, where the highlight was an exquisite chip-in for a birdie two on his penultimate hole.
‘With the schedule I’ve had this year, I’ve been stop-start a lot,’ said the 35-year-old. ‘But I’ve been seeing signs of a return to form in recent events and today everything was pretty solid.’
Seven birdies supported the assertion that his form may have turned the corner.
‘I kept the ball in play off the tee which is pretty important in these conditions and my short game was really good when it needed to be
‘I had a nice chip in at the eighth (his 17th hole of the round having started from the 10th tee) and finished with a nice birdie as well, so overall it was a really good day.’
McIlroy was happy enough with his 70, to Willett’s 71 but, like everyone else, he’s had other things on his mind this week.
No one can accuse him of sitting on the sidelines when it comes to the wretched subject of men-only golf clubs.
A day after imploring the members at Muirfield ‘to see sense and realise it’s 2016’, he revealed he is putting pressure on men-only Portmarnock in Dublin to change their membership policies so he can take the Irish Open back to the revered links for the first time since 2003.
The tournament, which McIlroy hosts, is in receipt of government money from Failte Ireland and, accordingly, Portmarnock lost the right to host it when it refused to budge on its men-only stance.
Similarly, Muirfield lost the right to host The Open on Thursday after a resolution to admit women members failed to get the necessary two-thirds majority. McIlroy, however, believes there are signs of a change of heart at the Irish club.
‘We’ve had conversations about it and they are in the process of maybe taking the first steps to changing that rule,’ he said.
McIlroy’s mood following his round was helped after sinking a long birdie putt on his final hole to defuse the frustration building as opportunities went begging.
‘A 70 is not a bad score and that birdie at the last feels huge,’ he added. ‘It’s given me some momentum for the weekend.’
Putting his tournament hat back on, McIlroy surveyed the leaderboard with pride. ‘I don’t think there’s anyone happier than me to see Danny up there as the Masters champion alongside Marc (Warren) with myself tucked in behind.’
Willett threatened to establish a handy advantage when he birdied two successive holes on his back nine to go three clear but finished slowly with a dropped shot and three pars.
‘It was a bit scrappy in places but I can’t complain with the position I find myself in going into the weekend,’ he said.
Scot pair Richie Ramsay (71) and Russell Knox (66) were five shots off the pace on three-under-par 141.