World number two-ranked EDGA golfer Brendan Lawlor didn’t quite begin the 2024 season as he’d have liked, finishing third at the G4D @ Magical Kenya Open, but the news that the he’ll soon be teeing it up alongside the stars of the PGA Tour was the perfect anesthetic for the Dundalk man.
Lawlor had just put the finishing touches on a three-over par final round at Muthaiga Golf Club on the outskirts of Nairobi to take solo-third, well off the pace set by great rival and world number one Kipp Popert when the news dropped that the PGA Tour’s first ever G4D tournament would be held in conjunction with the CJ Cup Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas at the end of April.
“It was a great announcement that the PGA Tour are starting to embrace G4D,” said Lawlor. “This is going to be a massive event and it’s absolutely ground breaking for disability golf. To have one of the biggest organisations in the world hopefully start to champion it is huge.”
It leaves Lawlor, who was born with Ellis-Van Creveld Syndrome, a bone growth disorder that leads to shorter limbs, facing a busy 10 days or so, should he decide to go to Japan the week prior where he’s got the potential to tee it up in the DP World Tour’s ISPS HANDA Championship.
“Not decided yet,” he said when asked if making the trip to Japan would be likely given the tournament is due to finish the day before the G4D @ CJ Cup Byron Nelson would commence, “but it’s on the cards.”
Lawlor wasn’t too disappointed with his performance in Kenya, despite finishing nine shots off the pace. “I scrambled well yesterday,” he said “but didn’t really hit the ball great and today I didn’t hit it well at all. My 5- and 6-irons were going well left, but I think it was the type of grass – it’s that sort of straw-like grass where the club really grabs and everything flips – but it was a good start to the year. A third place finish isn’t bad and Kipp obviously played really well to win it, but with the lack of preparation I had in Ireland with the bad weather, it’s not a bad start and it’s something I can really build on, so I’m happy enough.”
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