Rónán MacNamara in Killeen Castle
Alex Maguire was kicking himself after bogeying the eighteenth but insisted he would be attacking the final round of the Irish Challenge with buckets of optimism as he hunts an Amgen Irish Open spot.
The race for the Christy O’Connor trophy and a spot at the K Club next month hotted up on day three with Paul McBride leading this particular charge on four-under in tenth with Maguire and Robert Moran a shot further back. The trio look too far back to threaten a victory.
Maguire bookended his round with a double at the first after taking two attempts to escape a fairway bunker and a bogey on 18 but in between there was plenty of good golf with birdies on the 2nd, 8th, 9th, 13th and 16th although he lamented missed chances.
“I didn’t play very well yesterday. I played great today, looking back on the round I left three or four out there,” explained Maguire who is on course for his best finish of the season in just his seventh start. “I hit a few chips on the par fives and left myself a few tricky birdie putts, left a birdie putt in the jaws on fourteen but if I par the last I don’t worry about it I just go and get them tomorrow. It was nice to birdie the 16th if I hadn’t it would have felt like the momentum was completely against me, held that and felt like I steadied the ship on the greens.
“I’d say if you got me in an hour I would’ve said I was pretty pleased. Disappointed, but overall happy with how I played.”
Maguire currently lies nine shots off the pace and while a maiden tour victory looks set to elude him he has plenty to play for and the competitive juices will be flowing on Sunday as he targets a second Irish Open appearance, knowing the opportunity to turn a corner in his burgeoning career could be near.
“It’s the first time I’ve been in contention or up this high on the leaderboard in a HotelPlanner Tour event. I don’t feel out of my depth at all, kicking myself to be lying 15th but I could be debatably up there near the top but yeah, I feel like I will calm down now and go into tomorrow with some optimism. Started with a double and shot two-under so I know I can recover.
“Good round tomorrow and who knows where that will leave me whether I finish second or finish tenth if I can just continue what I am doing. Hopefully I am playing the K Club in a few weeks time.”
Killeen Castle has earned rave reviews this week and it’s certainly a golf course that suits Maguire’s eye.
“I’m biased but I’d say it’s the best golf course we play all year, there isn’t a bad hole on the course, there’s a few standout holes but they are all challenging and how it compares to the rest of the courses I’ve played it’s quite like the Indian course in Kolkata. When it gets windy here, the hardest part is into the greens and when you have gusts and you have to control your spin and if you’re short or long you are out of position so it’s a really challenging course to get the right distance which can make you have doubts over the golf ball.
“It’s been a really difficult test this week, it’s a great venue and I would love it to be on the schedule going forward and I am looking forward to tomorrow.”
