Canice Screene had every reason to smile after she carded the best round of her burgeoning career and the joint-low round of the KPMG Women’s Irish Open with a scintillating Sunday 66 at Carton House.
Screene’s round was matched by Spain’s Fatima Fernandez Cano and the LET rookie is on course to double her winnings for the season with a top-40 finish after five birdies and an eagle catapulted her to two-under-par.
“It’s my best round on tour,” said a delighted Screene after she fist-pumped in a slippery five-footer for a closing par. “Five under was my previous best, so I am excited.
“The 18th hole has given me some problems this week. So that was better than any of my birdies,” added the former Irish Close champion who has given her chances of earning a full LET card for next season a timely shot in the arm.
Screene is London born but has a fully Irish background with her mother hailing from Belmullet and her father from Galway. Although her grandmother Miriam unfortunately could not make it, she was backed by plenty of family members including her uncle who carried the atmosphere for most of the day.
“My nan wasn’t coming today, so she’s like, ‘What are you going to do?’ And I was like, going to be under par,” Screene giggled.
“I don’t think she realised I was going to be quite so under.”
Screene is dreaming of a place in next month’s AIG Women’s Open and she will be bouncing into pre-qualifying as she looks to progress to Final Qualifying and then the real thing at Royal Porthcawl.
“Obviously, everything was working nicely,” she said. “I chipped in for eagle on a four, so that was always nice. Four under after four.”
“I’ve pre qualifying for The Open in about a week, and then hopefully final qualifying after that.”
Screene has a weak card on the Ladies European Tour this season and she feels she has to play every week she can in order to gain ranking points as she supplements her off weeks with appearances on the second tier LET Access Series.
A top-40 finish here will move her up in the pecking order ahead of the re-rank after the PIF London Championship.
“The re-shuffle will then give me a bit more clarity for the end of the season. But I have a lot of events I can add on the LET Access Series too.”
Screene battled valiantly to make the cut on Friday but a third round of 76 left her slightly disappointed although you would never have assumed so given her wonderful personality.
The Croham Hurst woman felt she was rewarded for her good play this week after getting one or two breaks in the right direction at long last.
“I’ve loved it,” said Screene who topped off a brilliant day with a stint in the commentary box. “I mean, this week is the most special thing ever because I have a massive family, and they’re all here.
“If you heard people screaming, that was my very over-enthusiastic uncle. It’s the best thing ever, and it makes teeing off at 7:24 in the morning less painful.
“Hopefully my round stands up as the best of the week. I played good golf this week, but I haven’t necessarily got the best out of it until today.
“Apart from the par save at the last, I made another good on the 14th but hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens today, so delighted with that.”
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