Brian Keogh

Damien McGrane chases Irish PGA


Kells kingpin Damien McGrane will go back to his roots next week when he chases his first Irish Professional Championship victory at Palmerstown House.

With Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley occupied elsewhere, the former club pro has emerged as one of the favourites to take the oldest closed national professional championship in Europe.

The Irish PGA was first played in 1907 and has been won by all the great Irish players down through the years, including legends Christy O’Connor and Harry Bradshaw.

Des Smyth, who has lifted the trophy six times in four different decades, has opted to remain in the US where he has made of $1.2 million on the Champions Tour this season.

And that means that McGrane or tour pals Peter Lawrie or Gary Murphy could etch their names on the famous old trophy.

All three have had solid seasons on the European Tour this year but you get the impression that McGrane has come a long way since he left his club job at Wexford and dedicated himself to the tour full time.

And he is happy with the state of his game as he prepares to chase his first Irish Professional title at the Christy O’Connor Jnr designed PGA National course.

With three top ten finishes on tour this year, Meath marvel McGrane has earned over €350,000 and is just waiting for that first win.

He said: “This year I have been in the mix more often and found it more comfortable and enjoyable to be up there.

“At the end of the day you have to have belief in yourself and keep going and maintain that belief in yourself.

“Perhaps some of our young players trying to break through onto the tour don’t have enough belief in themselves.

“Things change when you go from being a club pro to a tour pro. A good performance for me used to be shooting level par around the K Club and making the cut in the European Open.

“Now I have broken the mould a little bit and top class players like Leslie Walker, Damien Mooney and Jimmy Bolger realise now that there is not that big a gap.”

Walker, Mooney and Bolger will be gunning for the title and a first prize of €20,000 at Palmerstown House.

But McGrane will also have to watch out for the likes of experienced tour players such as Philip Walton and Waterville’s David Higgins.

While Walton looks destined to lose his tour card this year, he is always a force in the Irish championship as he proved when finishing second to Padraig Harrington at St Margarets last year.

Higgins has already secured his European Tour card through the Challenge Tour rankings and while he has struggled to regain his stunning early season form, he is determined and match his father Liam, who won the title at Woodbrook in 1983.

This year’s Irish Championship will be the first major event to be held at PGA National Ireland since it opened in May.

Last year, the PGA entered into an agreement with the owners of the Palmerstown House estate which saw it become the home of the PGA in Ireland and re-named PGA National Ireland.

This year’s tournament will be sponsored by Cuisine de France and Simple Overseas Properties with a total prize fund of €140,000, unchanged from last year.

Michael McCumiskey, Secretary of the Irish Region of the PGA, is certainly looking forward to his first Championship at the PGA’s new headquarters.

He said: “We have worked closely with Jim Mansfield, Gary Silcock and his team at PGA National Ireland and will ultimately roll out many different initiatives from PGA National Ireland. It is a wonderful venue for this event and will undoubtedly be a major test for the players.”