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Irish Independent
5 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
‘I've been asked to do that and I've turned it down' – Rory McIlroy on US captain Keegan Bradley's Ryder Cup dilemma
The Irishman, Europe's leading points scorer in their victory in Rome two years ago, said the idea had already been raised with him but he rejected it out of hand. McIlroy, aged 36 and currently world number two, has plenty of time left at the top as a player, but it is a dilemma facing United States captain Keegan Bradley, whose form this year has elevated him to 12th in the world and 10th on America's qualification list. 'I've been asked to do that and I've turned it down,' said McIlroy, who was the first player to automatically qualify for Europe's team for next month's event at Bethpage in New York. 'The idea of me being a playing captain sometime soon has come up and I've shot it down straight away because I don't think you can do it. 'If you'd have said it 20 years ago I'd say it was probably possible to do, but how big of a spectacle it is and everything that's on the line in a Ryder Cup now, I just think it would be a very difficult position to be in. 'There's a lot of things that people don't see that the captain does the week of the Ryder Cup, especially now that the Ryder Cup has become so big. 'The captain's only going to be able to play one session on Friday, one session on Saturday. Would you rather not have a player that has the flexibility to go twice if he's playing well?' The idea of me being a playing captain sometime soon has come up and I've shot it down straight away because I don't think you can do it Rory McIlroy On Thursday McIlroy will tee off alongside world number one Scottie Scheffler in the BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club outside Baltimore. The Ulsterman opted to skip the opening event of the FedEx Cup as he knew he was already guaranteed a spot in the PGA Tour's season-ending Tour Championship next week and that drew some criticism. However, McIlroy argued his year is far from over as, in addition to the Ryder Cup, he will head back to the DP World Tour for a number of events, including the Irish Open and BMW Championship at Wentworth, before trying to win his seventh Race to Dubai title in November. 'A lot of the guys aren't 18 years into their professional career. I feel like I'm in a little bit of a different position,' he added. 'I'm playing nine times between now and the end of the year, so I've still got a pretty busy stretch coming up and I just think that extra week off will do me good with the events coming up.'
Belfast Telegraph
08-08-2025
- Automotive
- Belfast Telegraph
Glenn Irwin makes steady return to British Superbike action after injury lay-off
Irwin has been out of action since a nasty crash at Snetterton in June and is approaching his comeback at round six at Thruxton this weekend with 'controlled expectations'. The 35-year-old was 14th overall after the opening two free practice sessions as he rode the Yamaha R1 for the first time. Irwin was 19th quickest in FP1 before improving to 14th in FP2, just under eight-tenths of a second down on Friday leader Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha). Irwin's new team-mate and reigning BSB champion Kyle Ryde was fourth fastest behind Kent, Storm Stacey (Bathams BMW) and Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK), with the top four on the time sheets covered by only 0.275s. Irwin was passed fit on Thursday to take part in FP1 and, following a further assessment afterwards, the two-time BSB title runner-up was cleared to compete for the rest of the weekend. 'Thank you to everyone who has got me to this point and assisted with my recovery,' Irwin said. 'A big thank you to Nitrous Competitions and OMG Racing for giving me this opportunity.' Irwin has joined the reigning BSB champions until the end of the season after parting company from PBM Ducati in a surprise split. The Ulsterman recovered faster than anticipated after undergoing surgery on his sacrum (pelvis area) shortly after his accident at Snetterton, which left him with fractures to his hip socket and pelvis. However, Irwin's former team said his comeback target at Thruxton was a 'point of conflict', with PBM management stating that he should not return until 'at least' after the seventh round at Cadwell Park later this month. In a live interview on social media during the week, Irwin – who won 19 races as a PBM rider – said he didn't feel wanted by the team, who have signed former BSB champion Scott Redding for the rest of the campaign. 'There is one bike, the budget is tight and cash isn't flush – (PBM) are running the team without the support from their grandfather and purely on sponsorship,' said the 11-time North West 200 Superbike winner. 'It's been tough behind the scenes, not the racing or garage morale – that's been incredible – but racing is a job and you go racing to earn a living and that part was becoming tough to do.' He continued: 'I rang Jordan (Bird, co-owner PBM Ducati) with the good news that I had been passed (fit to ride) and I didn't feel like it was good news to her. 'I don't believe that the team believes I'm unfit. I am fit, I wanted back riding with my team and it wasn't mutual.' Irwin will need time to adjust to the Yamaha R1, which is a very different package to the Ducati Panigale V4 he has been riding since re-joining the team in 2023, after initially signing for Paul Bird back in 2016. He will be aiming to make further progress on Saturday in qualifying ahead of the weekend's opening race at 4:30pm the same day. Sunday's two BSB races are scheduled for 1:15pm and 4:15pm. Irwin's brother Andrew was 16th fastest on the Honda Racing UK Fireblade, while Co Antrim's Scott Swann (Send My Bag/IWR Honda) was 11th, one place ahead of PBM Ducati's Redding.
Belfast Telegraph
26-07-2025
- Automotive
- Belfast Telegraph
Mike Browne wins Race of Legends finale to seal Armoy four-timer
The Republic of Ireland rider is only the fourth winner of the blue riband Superbike race along with Ryan Farquhar, Michael Dunlop and Davey Todd. Browne also won the Open race for a big bike double and added another win in the Supersport race for a brace in the class on the BPE/Russell Racing Yamaha after opening his account on Friday. The Cork man left himself with work to do in the Race of Legends finale after fluffing his lines at the start on his new Honda. Browne was in fourth place on the opening lap but soon forced his way into contention as he chased after pole man and race leader Paul Jordan on the Jackson Racing Honda. He quickly passed Marcus Simpson and Michael Sweeney to pursue Jordan and was ahead of the Ulsterman by the end of lap three. Jordan had no answer as Browne set the fastest lap of the race at 106.898mph to pull away. He won by 4.313s from Jordan, with Sweeney (MJR BMW) holding off Conor Cummins (Burrows/RK Racing BMW) and Jamie Coward (KTS Racing BMW) to secure the final podium place in the final Irish road race of the year. Browne only rode the Honda for the first time at the Southern 100 earlier this month but has gelled quickly with the machine. 'Alistair (Russell) and the team done an awful lot of work the last two weeks because we just got that bike and we're trying to make it our own,' he said. 'We're still actually missing a few bits to finish it off but they done some job to get us on the grid even and turned the bike inside-out, and it was our second time on the bike so it's confidence going forward – it's a good bike.' Jordan held his hands up for a wrong tyre choice on the front of his Honda, with the Magherafelt rider choosing an intermediate. Some rain showers had left parts of the County Antrim course damp, but these dried out rapidly as the big race began. 'We went for the wrong tyre choice on the front which is my own fault,' Jordan said. 'To be honest, ten minutes before the start we were still on a wet set-up and fair play to the boys, the rear shock was out, and to get them a second is good.' The Open race was delayed after a rain shower but it made little difference to Browne, who never looked back after passing early pacesetter Sweeney. In tricky conditions, he went on to win the reduced six-lap race by almost nine seconds from Sweeney, while Jordan finished third on his 600cc Jackson Racing Honda machine. 'That was just a gamble with what set-up to use, with half dry, half wet (conditions),' said Browne. 'It was bone dry down to the village but then very wet at the last road end. 'It was very hard to work out and it was tough, but it was nice that everyone got around as well there because it was tricky.' Coward, Neil Kernohan (Yamaha) and Cummins were the top six. In the Supersport race, Browne came out on top once again but this time he was kept honest throughout by Jordan. The duo broke away from the rest of the field and although Jordan was able to keep in touch with Browne, the 34-year-old was unable to find a way past. Browne won by 0.523s, with third going to Sweeney on his Yamaha, who only just held off Coward on the KTS Macadam Racing Triumph for third. Cummins (Burrows/RK Racing Ducati) and Manx rider Joe Yeardsley (Yamaha) were fifth and sixth respectively. Jordan wrapped up a double in the Supertwin class on the Jackson Racing Aprilia, beating Barry Furber (DC Autos Yamaha) by 9.7s in a damp race. Sean Brolly, who plies his trade in the Support classes, excelled to take third on his Aprilia on corrected time ahead of Sweeney after starting in the second group. Kevin Lavery from Dungannon won the Junior Support race with Brolly taking victory in the Senior Support race. The Lightweight race was won by Barry Davidson while Chris Meyer held off Nigel Moore for victory in the Moto3/125GP race. Andy Farrell won the Classic Superbike race by 11.9s from Sam West.
Irish Examiner
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Rory McIlroy's signs of progress pale beside Scottie Scheffler masterclass
Rory McIlroy's tenth birthday present was a round of golf here at Royal Portrush. In 2006, the 16-year old McIlroy shot a course record 61 on the old Dunluce Course. Winning an Open Championship at this place would cement that love affair. That's still possible, if highly improbable. The problem with 2019 was that he surrendered too much of himself to the dream and it sundered him. Now, six years later, he finds himself part of a wide chasing pack after two mixed rounds that leave him seven adrift of an imperious Scottie Scheffler. 'It was a hard pill to swallow,' he said of that missed cut, 'but at the same time I left myself too much to do [on the Friday]. Then this time, yeah, I've just gotten better. I know what I need to do to get the best out of myself in an environment like that. 'I've been somewhat close to my best over the first two days in little bits here and there. I'm going to need to have it all under control and have it sort of all firing over the weekend to make a run.' This was before Scheffler caught fire, but McIlroy has to look inward. It starts with his driving. The reigning Masters champion found as many bunkers as fairways – two – off the tee through his first round. It wasn't just that he was missing the target: some of his attempts were ending up in proper rough. The really bad stuff. Friday was so much better. The effort off the second tee box wasn't good. Pushed right, it left him needing a penalty drop, but anyone hoping to see the Ulsterman come good come Sunday evening can find encouragement. He found seven fairways after that, six of them from his last seven holes. Another three efforts finished in the semi-rough. That's ten decent to very good drives out of 14 and the spillover effect that has on a game and a round is profound. Rasmus Hojgaard sits on five-under here on the back of a poor run of recent form. His answer was quick and simple when asked to explain why he is suddenly inhabiting the upper regions of an Open leaderboard. 'This week I've sort of managed that my tee shot has been better, apart from one drive today,' said the Dane. 'So I've put myself in better position off the tee. That sort of takes a little bit of pressure off the round.' If McIlroy can replicate some of the driving he produced for so much of his successful week at Augusta in April then he is capable of doing something special because there have been flashes of his game that have been sublime. His second shot from deep rough for birdie on the difficult 17th on day one was pure magic. His opening birdie on Friday was a perfectly executed masterclass on the highly challenging 4th. His last birdie was posted on a 14th playing harder than any other hole. 'I feel like my game's definitely good enough to make a run,' he said. The problem is that there are so many others who will feel the same, or gone on those runs already. Players who, unlike McIlroy, made the most of benign conditions early in the day, or others who belied the wetter interludes as afternoon leaked into evening. Brian Harman, winner in 2023, set the clubhouse lead from the early groupings, his six-under par 65 taking him to eight-under in total. There were other surges from the likes of Haotong Li, Robert MacIntyre and even Bryson DeChambeau. The problem for DeChambeau was his 65 only got him inside the cut after Thursday's disaster. Scheffler soon looked ominous, his presence casting its own shadow when making three birdies in a row on the front nine. Matt Fitzpatrick went on his own rip, matching Scheffler's feat then birdieing four on the trot on the back nine. Here was proof of the pre-tournament consensus that this was a hard but fair links course, whatever the weather, a fact summed up earlier in the day by Harris English after the American posted a 70 despite some of the more intense rainfall. 'I'm going to play it to the best of my ability,' he said. 'That's all you can do. You can moan and complain that we had to play in 30 minutes of rain and some guys might not play in the rain, but that's this tournament. That's the randomness of this tournament.' Fitzpatrick, like Harman and so many other first-time major winners before them, has struggled to replicate the golf that won him the 2022 US Open, but he has shown signs of a resurgence since May and a tie for eighth at the US PGA. Ten-under through 13, he finished on nine-under. Alone at the summit at that point until Scheffler eclipsed him with a 64, that was inches away from equalling Shane Lowry's new course record of 63 with a putt on 18, to lead by one. McIlroy has to start stacking some birdies quickly on Saturday, but there is too much quality and too many shots to close completely on the pacesetters with 36 holes to go. Especially with the world number one in form like this. 'What's the point,' said Scheffler in his existential press conference this week. Most of the field could already be thinking something similar.
Irish Examiner
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Open Diary: 'Pretty cool' Spidercam keeps out of the way on 18
Spidercam? What Spidercam? The R&A, fairly or otherwise, isn't the first body you might think of when it comes to innovation but global golf's administrators stole a march with their adoption for the first time this week of a Spidercam on the 18th green. Football, cricket and rugby have all embraced the technology before now but doing it in golf, with its wider canvas and other structural obstacles, isn't as easy. The R&A had to use four pylons to suspend the camera 25 metres above and behind the final green. So, it fell to the opening group of Padraig Harrington, Tom McKibbin and Nicolai Hojgaard to make a small slice of history as they approached the 18th green and equipment that cost €350,000 to put up. Hojgaard didn't see it at all, McKibbin barely noticed it. 'Not when I was hitting my shot,' said the Ulsterman. 'I could see it when the other guys were hitting it, and I could see it yesterday for the first time, and it was a little bit different. I'd never seen it before, but it's pretty cool the way it can move and do all those swings.' Open appearance a new Peake An opening 77 left Ryan Peake feeling 'flat' on Thursday but making it to Royal Portrush was some achievement for a guy who had just served five years in a maximum security prison in Western Australia for assault when The Open came here in 2019. A top junior player growing up, Peake became a member of the Rebels bike gang, but returned to golf on his release from jail and qualified for The Open by winning this year's New Zealand Open. Then he got drawn in the same three-ball as Phil Mickelson. Peake admitted to a nervousness at playing in his first major but he made the most of the occasion after carding his six-over round. 'His caddie gave away golf balls as we were walking off the tee and I yelled out, 'what about me?'. And he had a laugh, thought I was being sarcastic, and he said, 'are you serious?' And I said, 'no, I'm deadly serious'. 'I said, 'can you sign a glove as well'? He's your hero growing up. My own boy is out here this week and he loves him as well. I'm not going to ask him on the 1st tee, but I'll ask him after the round.' First things first, this one ain't easy Rory McIlroy and Padraig Harrington weren't the only players trembling at the thoughts of making that tee shot on the first hole on opening day. Players of varying experience and all nationalities had to overcome the same nerves. 'I think most of the guys laid up before the bunkers,' said Matteo Manassero who carded a birdie at it, 'and it leaves you more than 180 yards to an elevated green with a lot of bounce on it. It's not easy to… And that's having hit a good tee shot. 'It's not easy, and it's the first hole. The first hole is always not quite into the round as much, very sharp with understanding the bounces and everything. I guess that's something about it. It's just a hard hole. It's not that easy.' At least this was his seventh Open Championship. Scottish amateur Connor Graham reckoned standing on that first tee was the most nervous he's ever been and still carded a par. So did 20-year old Richard Teder, the first Estonian to play in this tournament, whose take was more stark again. 'A bit crazy on the first hole. I thought I was going to black out. I told myself it's another golf shot. It's a two-iron, my favourite club. The whole day was just unbelievable. The crowds, the fans. It was special.'
