Well, who doesn’t text Brooks Koepka’s caddie Ricky Elliott to ask if the five-time major winner would mind playing a practice round in the K Club before the Irish Open.
Irish amateur John Doyle might be behind the rest of the field in lived years, having just gone into sixth year in his hometown of Mitchelstown, Co Cork, but he already understands that the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
“I got in touch with Ricky Elliott on Sunday because my college coach, in LSU (Louisiana State University, where he goes next year), he coached Brooks’ brother and he has connections with Elliott,” said Doyle. “He gave me the number and I said, ‘why not?’. Might as well give it a shot and text him.
“He’s a sound guy. He’s a legend. He’s very laid-back. He’s nice. I was nervous hitting shots and whatever. It was a good way of settling in.”
Doyle’s two-over first-round score in his debut Irish Open puts him equal with a clutch of professionals, including three-time Major winner Pádraig Harrington.
Doyle got off to a blistering start with birdie, birdie on his first two holes, which were 10 and 11 as he played the back nine first. A difficult second nine during the worst of the heavy showers, which swept across the course in violent squalls, pushed him down the leaderboard.
“Not very pleased. I had a poor back nine,” said the 18-year-old. “Hit it very wayward off the tee on the back, I thought. Didn’t really feel like I got too much out of it.
“Kept on hitting it into the rough, like a yard or two in. It’s silage – like, the rough is silage. You’re not getting anything out of it really.”
Doyle carded three consecutive bogeys on his 14th, 15th, and 16th holes in a birdie-free back nine, during which time the players were called from the course due to the threat of lightning.
That didn’t materialise, but the torrential rain that fell during the short stoppage made for some sodden areas around the course.
John Doyle on the 17th at the K Club on Thursday. Photograph: Bryan Keane/Inpho
“I was actually happy enough with the finish after the restart,” he said. “Just chilled out, chatted away to people. I was a bit p***ed off, whatever.
“Tried to snap out of it a bit and talk to people and not stay in my own funk. Try and go again tomorrow, hit the ball a bit straighter. Everything else is really good, to be honest.”
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Doyle, who is four years younger than Shane Lowry was when he won the Irish Open in 2009, has had a phenomenal year with wins at the Irish Boys’ Amateur Open Championship and Munster Men’s Amateur Open Championship.
He finished runner-up in both the St Andrews Links and Carris Trophy, as well as representing Ireland at the European Amateur Team Championships in Killarney and Men’s & Women’s Home Internationals in England.
More recently, he was part of the GB&I team in the Jacques Léglise Trophy and has been selected to represent Europe in the Junior Ryder Cup.
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However, the bigger names around him on the leaderboard didn’t soften the sense that shots were left on the course.
“I just like to do my best for what I think I can do. I think I could have shot a few better today, but that’s life,” said Doyle. “Try and do that tomorrow. It was a lovely start (two consecutive birdies). I was very nervous and actually dealt with it quite well.
“I just really enjoyed the whole round. It’s such a great experience getting to play. I was delighted.”
In stark contrast to the Cork schoolboy, Thursday morning marked a remarkable 30th consecutive start in the Irish Open for Harrington.
