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Seamus Power and Niall Kearney lead home challenge at Horizon Irish Open

Updated / Thursday, 30 Jun 2022 21:51
Power enjoyed a strong start at Mount Juliet and shared a group with Shane Lowry
Power enjoyed a strong start at Mount Juliet and shared a group with Shane Lowry

Seamus Power and Niall Kearney are leading the home challenge after the opening round at the Horizon Irish Open.

The duo both carded 68s and are four shots off the eight-under set by clubhouse leader Ryan Fox of New Zealand, who holds a one-stroke advantage at the summit.

Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington, fresh from winning the US Senior Open on Sunday, and John Murphy are on two under, with Shane Lowry and Jonathan Caldwell a further shot back after 71s.

Paul Dunne, Cormac Sharvin and Mark Power are level par, while Colm Campbell and David Higgins are five and six-over respectively.

LEADERBOARD

Power and Lowry started together on the back nine in a group with England's Tyrrell Hatton.

The Waterford native began with an immediate birdie on 10 before continuing his momentum with further birdies on 16 and 17.

Seamus Power and Shane Lowry fist bump during their opening rounds

A birdie on the second moved Power up to four under before a bogey on the par-5 fifth set him back. He did have another bogey on the penultimate hole of the round but it was sandwiched by birdies on seven and nine.

Speaking afterwards to RTÉ Sport, Power was happy enough with his round, stating that "you never want to play yourself out of it on the first day".

He was also grateful that he didn't spend to much time in the "damp rough" in carding his 68.

"I missed a couple of fairways on the back but was able to recover. The rough is thick and it's wet. It's a good test but as soon as you're on the fairways there are opportunities to get close. It's a balancing act, but overall it was a good day."

Lowry, meanwhile, bogeyed the 12th but a birdie on 17 saw him level par halfway through.

Birdies on six and seven saw the 2009 Irish Open champion climb up the leaderboard but a bogey on the next hole saw him drop back to one under.

The Offaly native said he felt his round was "okay".

"I don't think I had too many bad shots. I just never really got it going," said Lowry.

"Maybe I wasn't aggressive enough. The golf course is very scoreable this morning and I hit the ball okay off the tee so I probably should have made a few more birdies.

"But one under is one under and I gave it my best out there, managed to hole a couple of nice putts at the end which was nice and (I can) go and get it tomorrow now."

Kearney reacts after chipping on to the eighth green

Kearney, who has enjoyed solid form on the DP World Tour, also started on the back nine and began in blistering form. The Dubliner managed five birdies by the turn, including three-in-succession on 13, 14 and 15.

There was less progress on the front nine before he bogeyed the eighth to sit on four under alongside Power.

Harrington's 70 was sparked by a birdie on the fifth and picked up further shots on eight and 13 to move up to three under.

But two bogeys either side of a birdie on 17 saw the 50-year-old have to settle for two-under.

He was reasonably satisfied with his performance although he told RTÉ Sport that it was a score that only just keeps him in the reckoning.

"Coming in I was thinking when I got it to three under par, if I could get it to four it would be a really good day," said Harrington.

"It was disappointing to drop the shots at the end but I knew there would be tough patches this week no matter what.

"I'll get a good night's sleep, come back tomorrow and hopefully get a good run tomorrow.

He added: "Two under is okay but if you're any worse, you would be very flat going out tomorrow. At least at two under I still have an opportunity to go forward and it is important when you come off a week like last week that you keep momentum going."

It's New Zealand's Fox who set the early pace with a bogey-free 64. Birdies on 10 and 17 represented a solid start before he then birdied six of his final nine holes.

France's Frederic Lacroix went one better than Fox on holes 10 and 17 with eagles on both but he did bogey 16 on the way to second on seven under.

He was later joined in a four-way tie by Fabrizio Zanotti, Jorge Campillo and Marcel Schneider.

That quartet is a further shot clear of a six-way tie for sixth which includes Aaron Rai and Pablo Larrazabal.

Watch the Horizon Irish Open live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player on Thursday and Friday from 1pm-6pm. Day 3 and 4 coverage on Saturday and Sunday from 1.10pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.

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