Madden keeping his feet on the ground despite superb opener at Killeen Castle

Mark McGowan at Killeen Castle

On the putting green with just minutes to spare before making his maiden professional appearance in Ireland, Jack Madden was fearing the worst as the skies darkened and the threat of rain in addition to the stiff breeze became a likely possibility.

“I actually sent Danny [his caddie] running to get the waterproof jacket,” he admitted, but roughly five hours later he was walking off the 18th having just watched what would’ve been a new course-record-setting birdie putt slip by but thrilled with his day’s work which resulted in a four-under 68.

Having just turned pro late last year, Madden is another homegrown player who is making his first professional start on home soil, though he did compete in Open Championship Regional Qualifying at The Island in June.

“It’s my first home four-day event anyway, so it’s nice to get off to a good start because it’s what you work towards through your amateur career. So I’m just chuffed really,” he said.

“I didn’t know that at all [that he’d equalled the course record, though Welshman Oliver Farr would shortly go one better]. I don’t have too many courses records.

“I didn’t see the leaderboard before I went out, but kind of saw it when we were out on the course and for a large majority of the round, it seemed to be people who had played in the morning that were up there, so hopefully we get a nice calm morning tomorrow and it’s quite favorable for scoring.”

Madden turned at one-under, but wedged nicely on 10 and 12 to set up two more birdies before adding another on the par-3 16th and then played it safe on 18 after hitting a good drive, leaving himself an uphill putt.

“We were stood in the fairway and just decided that, with a back pin and the back bunker being a bit nasty, we have a good round going and there’s no point in making dinner taste a wee bit sour,” he smiled.

“So, we just thought if it got up, it got up, if it didn’t then middle of the green and having a putt at it would make us happy enough.”

Madden shares leading Irishman honours with Alex Maguire who shot four-under in the morning, but he’s allowing himself to entertain any thoughts of the Christy O’Connor Jnr Memorial Trophy as leading Irishman and brings with it an invitation to compete in the Amgen Irish Open at the K Club in September.

“Well, I’ve missed my last five cuts, so we’re just looking for something in the red here,” he admitted. “I haven’t given it any real thought. If we’re done on Sunday and we’re number one Irish man, we’ll be delighted, but until then I’ll kind of park that to the one side.”