Dubai, UAE ….
Rory McIlroy was very sympathetic after a bizarre incident at the European Tour Q-School final round that help to deny fellow Irish golfer Cormac Sharvin his 2019 full European Tour card.
It has emerged Sharvin had incorrectly teed-up in Thursday’s sixth and final round from not behind the tee markers on the Lumine course at Tarragona in Spain.
Sharvin was completing his swing at the par-3 seventh hole when German playing partner, Alexander Knappe noticed the Irishman was marginally in front of the tee-markers.
It is understood Knappe, and seeing where Sharvin was on the tee, sang-out but it was too late for Sharvin to fully pull-out of his swing and with his tee shot travelling just 15-yards.
Ardglass golfer Cormac Sharvin misses out on 2019 Tour card after two-shot penalty during the final round of the Q-School in Span.
“I teed off a couple of inches ahead of the tee markers causing a two-shot penalty and then I had to retake the shot and got it up and down for four,” Sharvin revealed.
“Alexander was very apologetic and was very upset that he didn’t call me off the shot. He said he only noticed as I took my backswing.”
“Genuinely it was not his fault. He could have maybe shouted in my backswing which may have worked but he didn’t. I take full responsibility for the mistake.”
Sharvin added: “With the pin being so far left on the green it obviously threw me off [in my alignment]. But I didn’t let it affect me in any way and just treated it as a test of character and I feel I showed great character to respond the way I did!”
Under the Rules of Golf, Sharvin’s first shot did not count and after calling a two-stroke penalty on himself he teed-off properly only to bravely send now his third shot to just five-feet of the flag and holed out for a bogey ‘4’ in an eventual round of 69 to miss out by a shot in joining Mt. Juliet’s Gavin Moynihan in securing one of the 27 full European Tour cards.
“I heard what happened to Cormac and it’s really disappointing,” said McIlroy.
“Naturally, I feel sorry for him and hoping, given his finish one place outside of getting a full Tour card, he may still get enough starts in in the New Year.”
While sympathetic for Sharvin, McIlroy was delighted for Moynihan, who despite two bogeys over his closing four holes, held on by a stroke to earn full membership.
“Gavin had been showing plenty of good signs throughout the year, so it’s great he’s been rewarded with his Tour card,” said McIlroy.
“The more Irish on the Tour, the merrier”.
And Moniyhan’s close friend and Golf Sixes winning team-mate, Paul Dunne was equally pleased.
“Gavin was a serial winner as an amateur but then everyone takes to it at different stages and professional golf is a lot different,” said Dunne.
“He has shown in the performances, like Valderrama recently, he played very well and the Irish Open last year so I know what kind of a player he is.
“What’s very important for a player coming out of Q-School is that they go and play these four events before Christmas, the start of this season just get off to a good start.
“Gavin struggled at the start last year and that kind of set the tone for the year so if you can get off to a good start, a bit of momentum then everything because much easier. ‘
“Hopefully he can keep that run of form going and have a few good finishes before Christmas and then he will be off and rolling.”
And the good thing with Moynihan now in the main Tour ranks it may take some of the pressure off Dunne who has been losing-out in ‘Credit Card Roulette’.
“Hopefully, it will be Gavin who starts losing,” said Dunne smiling.
“Seriously though with Shane playing less in America next year, I am not saying that is a good thing but it is a nice thing for me, so that’s Shane back a bit, Padraig is playing more in Europe, it should be a bigger Irish contingent playing a similar playing schedule to me, which I have been missing for a few years”.
