Ireland 14th after day one of the Spirit International in Texas
Left to right: Paul Conroy, Aine Donegan, Sara Byrne and Sam Murphy
Ireland lie 14th after the opening round of the 2021 Spirit International Golf Championship at Whispering Pines Golf Club in Texas.
With two men and two women in each national squad, there are six events in play, the men’s and women’s 54-hole strokeplay events, the country team event, where the best three of four scores count each day, and the men’s and women’s team aggregate, where both scores count and the overall individual.
US-based college players Sara Byrne (Douglas/Sophomore at the University of Miami), Paul Conroy (Enniscorthy/Sophomore at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga), Aine Donegan (Lahinch/Freshman at Grand Canyon University) and Sam Murphy (Portumna/Freshman at Grand Canyon University) were selected to compete for Ireland.
Conroy made one birdie and three bogeys in a two-over 74 to lie tied 17th in the men’s event (tied 32nd overall in the combined individual) with Murphy tied 20th (tied 36th overall) after making three birdies, two bogeys and a quadruple-bogey eight at the seventh in a 75.
Byrne lies tied 21st in the women’s event (tied 46th overall) after making two birdies and five bogeys in a four-over 76 with Donegan tied 23rd (tied 50th overall) after carding six bogeys and a birdie in a 77.
In the men’s team event, Ireland lie 10th on five-over, 12 strokes behind Canada’s Henry Lee (70) and Johnny Travale (67) who lead by four strokes from Americans Sam Bennett (73) and James Piot (68).
Byrne and Donegan are tied 14th in the women’s event on nine-over, 11 strokes behind Switzerland’s Caroline Sturdza (70) and Chiara Tamburlini (72).
Tavale leads the men’s event by a shot on five-under 67 from Piot with England’s Joe Padgin third after a 69.
In the women’s individual, world amateur No 1 Rose Zhang of the United States shot a three-under 69 to lead by a shot from Sturdza.
2021 Spirit International Golf Championship, Whispering Pines Golf Club, Texas
