Open Double the Aim for McGrane
17/07/08
Having won the open golf championship of the largest country on earth, Volvo China Open champion Damien McGrane is back to form and hoping to make it an ‘open double’ at the largest open golf championship on earth.
He romped to victory in the rain in Beijing one fateful Sunday in April, Ireland’s Damien McGrane winning his first European Tour title at the 169th attempt, a nine-shot victory to clinch the Volvo China Open.
Now, as he heads for an Open Championship of a different sort, the 37-year-old Irishman has regained the form he lost after his Volvo China Open triumph.
Speaking after a fine top 20 place in the Scottish Open before heading to Royal Birkdale for his first-ever Major championship, McGrane reflected, “Looking back on the Volvo China Open victory in Beijing, I might have taken some time off to rest and regroup as my form had dipped a bit after such a high, but some of the guys tell me this can happen.”
Indeed six missed cuts out of seven starts post-Beijing was hardly the form of a British Open Championship contender, but 19th place in the Scottish Open after leading the tournament is a big boost for the likeable Irishman.
“Sure, its great to be back striking the ball well, contending this week and I’m going into Royal Birkdale with renewed encouragement,” said McGrane adding, “Whether I can make it a double of the Volvo China Open and the British Open will depend on whether I get round in less shots than anyone else, but it’s a tall but far from impossible task.”
McGrane is already looking forward to defending his Volvo China Open title next year, saying, “It will be my first experience going to a tournament as defending champion and that will be fun and I hear that if I win, I’ll qualify for the new Volvo World Match Play Championship so that would be another first.
Meanwhile, at 21st in the European Tour Order of Merit, the Irishman looks certain to make his third successive Volvo Masters appearance at Valderrama.
“I’ve loved it there,” he reflected, adding, “I’m just beginning to get an understanding of Valderrama and look, Jeev Milkha Singh did the Volvo China Open and Volvo Masters double, so why not?”
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