Irish Close champion Thomas Higgins is set to make his Amgen Irish Open debut at Trump International Golf Links Doonbeg, but whether he tees it up as a professional or an amateur remains to be seen.
Irish Golfer Magazine understands Higgins planned to turn professional in time for the event and avail of a pro invite. But with a number of LIV players looking to compete there may not be enough pro invites available for Higgins who could tee it up as an amateur instead.
Tyrrell Hatton, Tom McKibbin and Jon Rahm are three big name LIV players teeing it up with the latter having settled his fines with the DP World Tour as he looks to fulfil his criteria of five events to remain eligible for Ryder Cup selection next year.
It is still unknown whether Donald Trump’s good pal Bryson DeChambeau will tee it up on the County Clare links in three weeks.
Higgins can count himself unlucky not to be part of the Great Britain and Ireland team for the Walker Cup where they will bid to stop USA winning six in a row at Lahinch Golf Club in a fortnight’s time.
The Roscommon star was a strong contender having holed the winning putt for Ireland at the European Team Championships in Estonia and playing a key role in helping the Boys in Green clinch Home Internationals glory in Woodbrook. The 23-year-old also won the Irish Close last week.
GB&I Captain, Dean Robertson, admitted that Higgins was part of his ten-man squad before Jack Whaley of England won the US Amateur last Sunday to steal his place.
“Before last week, I wouldn’t have seen Jack in the team, but after watching him, the talent that he’s got and the
humility that he’s got and the way that he spoke, I’m really excited to welcome him. The only downside of that is that if it wasn’t for Jack, Tom Higgins would have been in the team, 100 percent,” said Robertson who captained GB&I last year in Cypress Point.
“Thomas stood up and he won the Europeans for Ireland in Estonia. He makes more birdies than any of the other players in the team, but he offsets that with a lot of bogeys as well, and that’s why the likes of Josh Hill just gets ahead of him.
“But I do think he’s going to have a fabulous career, given that if he can raise his floor, he is already able to do all the great things once he starts to improve in areas like maybe a little bit more rhythm on the golf course. He can take a little bit of excessive time and maybe indecision in short selection or commitment. These are things we spoke about or I gave my feedback, and he agreed with all of it, and we had a lovely conversation, and he was absolutely class.”
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