Reigning champion Keith Egan (Carton House) will look to become the first player since Rory McIlroy to go back-to-back at the Connolly Motor Group West of Ireland this weekend.
The 32-year-old will look to emulate The Masters champion, who won his first title at this venue in 2005, and become only the third man in recent history to complete this unique double.
The West of Ireland tees of tomorrow (FRI) with Dwayne Mallon (Dungannon), Jonathan Keane (Lahinch) and Donal O’Reilly (Farnham Estate) teeing off at 7am.
2024 champion, Egan, will look to write his name in the history books alongside McIlroy and Niall Goulding (1990 and 1991) as he goes in search of glory on the Rosses Point links once more.
The traditional curtain raiser for the Bridgestone Men’s Order of Merit, will see over 130 of the very best amateur players from across the island of Ireland and beyond compete for the historic trophy.
Egan was imperious last year, never letting any of his matches come down to the final hole as he battled his way to victory over local hopeful David Brady (Straffan) in the decider.
“I have some great memories from last year, but I’ve just tried to keep myself in a good routine and a similar routine that I had last year and then just focusing on the mental side of things,” said Egan.
“It’s a tough test and one to prepare for because you have so long to practice you have so long to build it up, it’s trying to keep it as simple as possible that it’s a big tournament that you want to do well in and it’s a golf course that you enjoy playing, so it’s just trying to keep my priorities straight.”
Egan will get his tournament underway alongside Norwegian competitor Fridtjof Farhang and, after seven years away, the returning Stuart Grehan (Co Louth).
“The course, I played it a couple of weeks ago and it looks in class shape and the changes that they made look exceptional,” said Egan.
“It’s a credit to Sligo for the members being willing to make changes. I was up and I was very impressed with the changes that they made, and it’s only going to be better as the years go on, so it’s going to be exciting to see what it’s like.”
An excellent short game was one of the keys to Egan’s success last year and is sure to come into play again as the unpredictable weather conditions make shot selection a premium around Rosses Point.
“Being able to have a good two-iron and some long iron shots that you can rely on throughout the week, that if the weather gets so miserable you just need to be able to keep the ball as close to the ground as possible, and then mentally it’s just having a sign of resilience that will get you through those spots of bad weather that might come” said Egan.
“You might have such high winds that it’s just going to be hard to hit all the fairways and greens so no matter how well you’re hitting it, you’re just not capable of hitting every green in regulation.
“At some point you’re going to have to rely on your short game. It’s something that I always rely on and having a good short game that can be used as a bit of a get out get out of jail card.”
While history could be on the cards, Egan feels his game is coming together at the right time following the winter break, with so much golf to be played over the next five days, keeping his eye on the challenge that lies ahead and showing respect to what is one of the biggest amateur events in the country is what the defending champion looks to focus on.
“There’s so much golf to be played to even think of being a back-to-back winner. I’ve already won it so there’s no real pressure there. I just need to focus on the tournament this year for what it is and winning the West is always difficult no matter what,” said Egan.
“Going back-to-back is obviously very difficult and it shows, there’s not many back-to-back winners so I’m just going to focus on this as a big tournament, the big tournament that it is and respect it as that and then go out with that type of attitude and try to be as good as I can and give myself every opportunity.”
View the first-round tee times here
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