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Doherty and Ferguson close in on victory at DP World/LET ISPS Handa World Invitational

Matt Smith — Sun, 14 Aug 2022 07:00:58 +0000

By Matt Smith
Ewen Ferguson will take a three-stroke lead into the final round of the ISPS Handa World Invitational as he seeks a second DP World Tour title.

The Scotsman, who secured his maiden success at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in March, started the day one stroke ahead of Spain’s Borja Virto at Galgorm Castle Golf Club but quickly moved clear after birdies on the second and fourth holes.

His third birdie of the day came on the 10th and he recovered from back-to-back bogeys on the 14th and 15th with his fourth gain of the day on the 18th as he moved to 11-under par after signing for a two under 68.

The 26-year-old sits three strokes ahead of American John Catlin, who won the Irish Open at this venue in 2020.

Last year’s Challenge Tour Number One Marcus Helligkilde, of Denmark, carded the lowest round of the day, a six-under 64, which included two eagles and four birdies, to move into a share of third place on seven-under. Joining him in third place are England’s Jack Senior, Scotsman Connor Syme and Virto.

A further cut has been made after the third round of the the innovative event, which sees a DP World Tour and a co-sanctioned LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour tournament taking place on the same golf course. The top 35 players and ties from each tournament after 54-holes will contest the final day, with 38 men and 39 women set to tee it up in alternating groups.

In the women’s competition, Amanda Doherty will go in search of her first LPGA Tour title as she takes a one-stroke lead into the final day. The American, who has led since the first round, is one shot clear from 2018 Women’s Open champion Georgia Hall and Peiyun Chien from Chinese Taipei.

“I feel like overall it was a good day. I got off to a little bit of a rough start and I hit a few crazy shots today, so I managed to kind of come back from those and try and stay patient to have a decent round,” said Doherty.

“Going into the second round and going into today I was in pretty much the same spot, so I feel like I’ve had a little bit of experience with that this week. Obviously, the final round is a little bit different, but I’m excited.

“I was glad to get a birdie on 18. I had a few close calls, and nothing was going in, so it was nice to get that one. I was in contention quite a few times last year on the Epson Tour. I didn’t pull any of them off, but I feel like I had good final rounds. That’s all you can ask for. You can’t control what anybody else does. As long as I can have a solid final round, I’ll be happy with that.”

Ewen Ferguson

Ferguson added: “For 36 holes I played really, really good. Today was such a grind. I knew that I didn’t feel great on the range and it was going to be a grind, so battled away and chipped and putted my way to shooting a really good 68 around a tough golf course and extended my lead. Can’t ask for much more, to be honest.

“It’s just way too early to start feeling pressure. I’ll feel pressure tomorrow on the back nine, but like I just was just — you’re just jockeying for position at this moment it seems like, so just kind of going with it. Try to enjoy it, even though it is — it was tough because I wasn’t at all on my game, but grinded it out really well.”

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Ferguson and Doherty remain ahead in Northern Ireland at DP World Tour/LET ISPS Handa World Invitational

Matt Smith — Sat, 13 Aug 2022 10:04:07 +0000

By Matt Smith
Ewen Ferguson will go into the weekend at the ISPS HANDA World Invitational presented by AVIV Clinics with a one-stroke lead in the men’s event after carding a level par 70 at Massereene Golf Club.

The 26-year-old, who started the second round of the innovative event four strokes clear after setting a new course record at Galgorm Castle Golf Club yesterday with a nine under par 61, made a slower start to the day as he parred the first seven holes.

Starting from the 10th hole, his first birdie of the day came on the 17th hole, his eighth, and he played the front nine in one over with three bogeys and two birdies to sign for a level par round.

The Scotsman is one stroke clear of Virto, of Spain, who followed his five-under 65 at Massereene with a three-under par 67 at Galgorm to reach eight-under. The 31-year-old is in a rich vein of form with four finishes of tied eighth or better in his last seven starts on the Challenge Tour, on which he won twice in 2015.

Filippo Celli, who won the Silver Medal at The 150th Open at St Andrews last month after finishing as low amateur, shares third on seven-under par with Sweden’s Felix Palson, while Scotsman Connor Syme is fifth on six-under.

The ISPS Handa Invitational is tri-sanctioned between the DP World Tour, Ladies European Tour and LPGA, with the men’s and women’s tournaments being played simultaneously.

The final two rounds will be played at Galgorm Castle Golf Club, with the top 60 and ties from the men’s and women’s competition playing on Saturday. There will be a further cut to the leading 30 players and ties from both tournaments for the final round on Sunday. Tee times will alternate between male and female groups on both days.

In the women’s event, American Amanda Doherty remains one stroke ahead with her second consecutive round of 67. She is one stroke ahead of compatriot Lauren Coughlin and five-time Ladies European Tour winner and Solheim Cup player Emily Kristine Pedersen.

Ewen Ferguson

“Still playing nicely, but, a few more bad breaks today and missed a couple of the putts that I’ve kind of been making yesterday to keep my round going,” said Ferguson. “Good putts, but just kind of lipping out, and yesterday they were kind of lipping in. You walk onto the next tee when they lip in, you feel amazing. When you walk on the next tee and they lip out you feel a bit flatter. It was still a good day overall.”

Doherty added: “The putts were going in today. I was hitting the ball well to get it close enough for them to go in, but they were just falling in.

“That was definitely the best part of my game on the front nine. I then tried to hang on on the back nine, but I was putting really well today.

“Leading is not a position I have really been in before on the LPGA, so it’s always fun. It’s nice to know that I have some good, low rounds in me for sure. The last two years on the Epson Tour was a really good learning experience for me, and I think to have put myself in contention so many times last year makes me feel a little bit more comfortable with the position that I’m in now.”

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Ferguson races ahead in Northern Ireland as Doherty leads ladies at DP World Tour/LET/LPGA ISPS Handa World Invitational

Matt Smith — Fri, 12 Aug 2022 05:04:31 +0000

By Matt Smith
Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson set up home from home across the Irish Sea as he carded a course-record nine-under 61 at Galgorm Castle Golf Club to storm into the lead after the first round of the ISPS Handa World Invitational presented by AVIV Clinics.

The Qatar Masters champion is in fine form once again after also setting a course record at the Hero Open at Fairmont St Andrews a fortnight ago, carded five birdies and two eagles as he moved four strokes clear in Northern Ireland.

The 26-year-old held a healthy two-stroke lead as he stood on the 18th tee after holing out from a bunker on the par five 10th and making two further gains on the 13th and 14th holes, adding to his three under par front nine. He hit his second shot on the 18th just short of the green and then chipped in from 14 yards for his second eagle of the day, moving to nine-under.

He sits clear of Spain’s Borja Virto, Felix Palson of Sweden and Englishman Richard Bland, who each carded five-under 65s at Massereene, the second host venue of the innovative event. Eleven players share fourth place on four-under, including Filippo Celli, who won the Silver Medal at The 150th Open at St Andrews after finishing as low amateur, and Thomas Aiken, who is making his first start since the South African Open last December.

Amanda Doherty

The ISPS Handa is tri-sanctioned by the DP World Tour, Ladies European Tour and LPGA Tour, with men’s and women’s tournaments played on the same courses at the same time for two equal prize funds of US$1.5million. Competitors play one round at Galgorm Castle and Massereene Golf Clubs on Thursday and Friday, with the final two rounds of action taking place at Galgorm.

In the women’s competition, American Amanda Doherty carded a six-under 67 at Galgorm Castle to take a one stroke lead into the second round. She sits ahead of compatriot Lauren Coughlin and Solheim Cup players Georgia Hall, Leona Maguire and Emily Kristine Pedersen who share second on five-under.

“I played the pro-am with Niall (Horan) and Robbie Keane yesterday and I kept hitting a lot of bunkers,” said Ferguson. “They were saying, you love the bunkers. See you tomorrow. Just try and stay out of them. Today was just nice to avoid them, which was good. Obviously a 61, so course record is pretty nice.

“It is hard to follow a low round, because I had that kind of situation a couple weeks ago on St Andrews when I shot 11-under and the next day the feel was quite different. I was thinking: ‘Jeez, I was seven-under at this point yesterday and I’m one-under or level. So it is hard, but at the end of the day your golf ball doesn’t know what score you’re on, so just keep that in mind and try and just keep doing what I’m doing.”

Doherty equalled her career-best round on the LPGA Tour of 67 to lead by one.

“I was really just trying to stay in the moment today, and I feel like I was just kind of in that mindset starting the day,” said the LPGA Tour rookie. “I stayed patient. I know it’s kind of cliche, but it works. I was hitting the ball well. I made a couple good putts and there were some reachable par-fives, so it just kind of came together.

“I thought it was awesome out there. This is like perfect weather for me, and the course is in great shape. You don’t often get to play two courses, so it’s definitely interesting. A totally new game plan tomorrow. I’m just trying to stick to the same thing and stay patient and hopefully have a good round.”

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