Brendan Lawlor hits fine 68 to take lead at Irish Open
Roganstown provided the ideal test and the Carton House golfer shot two birdies and an eagle on his way to a -3 total, and a seven-shot lead over Cian Arthurs (Roganstown). Arthurs shot 75 on his home course while one of his playing partners, and good friend, James McParland (Roganstown) is in third on +6.
They make up the top three in the Gross Stroke Play scoring, while Fiona Gray (St Patrick's) and Cathy Fitzgerald (Killeen Castle) are tied at the top of the Women's Division. They both shot 31 points on Tuesday.
Brendan Swan (Co Meath) is the leader in the Net Stroke Play, with Timmy Moloney (Co Tipperary) on top in the Net Stableford.
Caolan Munnelly (Tullamore) leads the Sport Class IN, Ian St John (Tramore) and Fernando Vega de Seoane (Real Club Puerta de Hierro) top the Combined Sport Class, Tom Doherty (Killarney) leads ST1, Arthurs is in charge in ST2, and Lawlor in ST3.
'Three-under was probably the worst score I could have shot today,' said Lawlor.
'I hit the ball unbelievable. Hit 17 greens, had a lot of putts. Highlight of the round, I holed an 80-yard shot for eagle on four. I bogeyed one, birdied ten and birdied two so it was a very steady round and it could have been low, low but it's a good start to the week.
'It was a bad bogey (on the first). I missed a two-foot putt and then I hit seven iron to about 16 feet on the second, holed that and then just kept going about my round and it was good.
'Woburn was an unbelievable week for me. I'm taking a lot of stress off my golf this year, I'm still putting in the work, but I'm not putting pressure on myself to perform. I'm just going out, trying to hit it as best I can.
'It's unbelievable to play at home again in Ireland, such a great event too, sponsored by ISPS Handa and ran by Golf Ireland.
'It's an incredibly ran event and it's just going to get bigger as the years go on.'
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RTÉ News
a day ago
- RTÉ News
Brendan Lawlor shows class to win his first Irish Open
Brendan Lawlor proved a cut above the rest as he cruised to his first ISPS Handa Irish Open for Golfers with Disabilities in the Gross Stroke Play Division at Roganstown, north Co Dublin. The 28-year-old carded a second-round 71 to follow up on his opening 68 on Tuesday to finish 13 shots clear of playing partner Cian Arthurs, with James McParland one further back in third. Lawlor had a steady front nine which included a birdie on the second and even though he bogeyed the sixth, he finished with pars all the way in to finish on three-under after two days. "I was extremely good from tee to green. I hit 17 greens again today. Struggled big time with my putter, same as yesterday, but I was happy," said Lawlor. "Cian was on a wee heater at the start, playing some really good golf. I knew I had to just go out and shoot around level par today and get the job done, but I just wanted to go as low as possible. Unfortunately, I didn't do it but I'm delighted to win. "My game's in really good shape at the minute, I'm not putting pressure on myself to perform. I'm feeling really confident over the ball, and I just feel things can't go wrong off the tee. "I know I have to work on my putting. I have a big event in a couple of weeks in America at the US Adaptive Open, so if I can go out and strike the ball like that and can get my putting sorted. "Hopefully, that's a big one I'd love to win." Caolan Munnelly (Tullamore) won the Sport Class II1 after a second-round 82. Fernando Vega de Seoane (Real Club Puerta de Hierro) claimed the Combined Sport Class. Adam Dalton (The Royal Jersey) won the Sport Class ST1, Arthurs won the Sport Class ST2, and Lawlor was victorious in the Sport Class ST3. Mark Clougherty (Lambeg) was the winner in the Net Stroke Play and Timmy Moloney (Co Tipperary) won the Net Stableford. Fiona Gray (St Patrick's) was the champion in the Women's Division after she accumulated 60 points over the two days. "It's a nice feeling. I haven't had that feeling since we won the Trophy at the Rose Series, so it was very nice," said Gray. "The weather's been fantastic for us, because last year was a bit of a hit and miss but this year it's been absolutely fantastic. It makes a difference when it's dry. "ISPS Handa are fantastic, they've given us so much support and the clothing is just absolutely fantastic. "I feel proud every time I go away and play in events and to have Brendan here this week has been super, super exciting as well."
Irish Independent
2 days ago
- Irish Independent
Brendan Lawlor hits fine 68 to take lead at Irish Open
Roganstown provided the ideal test and the Carton House golfer shot two birdies and an eagle on his way to a -3 total, and a seven-shot lead over Cian Arthurs (Roganstown). Arthurs shot 75 on his home course while one of his playing partners, and good friend, James McParland (Roganstown) is in third on +6. They make up the top three in the Gross Stroke Play scoring, while Fiona Gray (St Patrick's) and Cathy Fitzgerald (Killeen Castle) are tied at the top of the Women's Division. They both shot 31 points on Tuesday. Brendan Swan (Co Meath) is the leader in the Net Stroke Play, with Timmy Moloney (Co Tipperary) on top in the Net Stableford. Caolan Munnelly (Tullamore) leads the Sport Class IN, Ian St John (Tramore) and Fernando Vega de Seoane (Real Club Puerta de Hierro) top the Combined Sport Class, Tom Doherty (Killarney) leads ST1, Arthurs is in charge in ST2, and Lawlor in ST3. 'Three-under was probably the worst score I could have shot today,' said Lawlor. 'I hit the ball unbelievable. Hit 17 greens, had a lot of putts. Highlight of the round, I holed an 80-yard shot for eagle on four. I bogeyed one, birdied ten and birdied two so it was a very steady round and it could have been low, low but it's a good start to the week. 'It was a bad bogey (on the first). I missed a two-foot putt and then I hit seven iron to about 16 feet on the second, holed that and then just kept going about my round and it was good. 'Woburn was an unbelievable week for me. I'm taking a lot of stress off my golf this year, I'm still putting in the work, but I'm not putting pressure on myself to perform. I'm just going out, trying to hit it as best I can. 'It's unbelievable to play at home again in Ireland, such a great event too, sponsored by ISPS Handa and ran by Golf Ireland. 'It's an incredibly ran event and it's just going to get bigger as the years go on.'
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Irish Examiner
Huw Lawlor: TJ Reid's attitude and professionalism an example for Kilkenny players
Huw Lawlor has hailed the longevity of TJ Reid as the 37-year-old claimed his 14th Leinster SHC medal on Sunday. The seven-time All-Ireland winner and seven-time All Star was only second to Lawlor as Kilkenny's best player in the victory over Galway and the defender was generous in his praise for the elder stateman of the team. 'Sure, he's a class apart, you know what I mean? You can forget about his age or whatever. The example he sets there in terms of work-rate and stuff like that, it's phenomenal, so it is. 'He's such a professional in terms of the way he sets up and the way he goes at it. He's a super player, his attitude and his work rate is top class, and I think that's what drives it on for him.' Two-time All Star Lawlor himself is playing some of the best hurling of his career as much as he is keen to play it down. 'Look, that kind of thing comes in fits and starts, I suppose. You can go through in form and out of form and stuff. 'We're just trying to get through the 70 minutes in the full-back line and try and stop them scoring, and if we can set up our own scores as well, then we'll be happy enough.' It might have seemed like a fade-out by Kilkenny but Lawlor had anticipated Galway would have a period of dominance and it manifested itself in an unanswered 1-6 towards the end of the game before The Cats settled themselves to seal the win. 'I suppose for that 55 minutes we probably choked the game and we controlled it well. Look, they were always going to get a purple patch at some stage and we were trying to limit that, but I thought the boys worked very hard all throughout. 'It's something that's happened to us before and we probably need to manage the game a little bit better from that point of view. But look, we got the scores and we got the kind of few interceptions that we needed to get over the line there.' You won't hear the 29-year-old complaining about the four-week gap to their July 6 All-Ireland semi-final being too long. 'Four weeks now to get the bodies right and get loads of training in. It's been a very busy six, seven, eight weeks there so it's a good chance to get training and for different lads to try get on to the team.'
