Hi °C | Lo °C Derry golfer Michael McGeady has joined the European Challenge Tour’s elite for the first time.
McGeady tees off today in the Trophy du golf de Geneve in Switzerland, an event limited to the top 32 players in the rankings plus four invitees.
And McGeady takes one of those places thanks to his maiden Challenge Tour win last month in Wales.
Also in the field are Belfast pair Gareth Maybin and Michael Hoey.
It’s the fifth biggest purse on the Challenge Tour but because of the limited field there is bigger individual prizemoney on offer and consequently it’s a great chance to cement a place in the top 20 which guarantees a European Tour card at the end of the season. Going into this week Maybin is in 17th place, Hoey in 23rd and McGeady in 39th.
As Geneva is an elite field the Vodaphone Challenge in Germany is being run simultaneously for the rest of the Challenge Tour.
And Gareth Shaw is in the field for that, hoping to maintain his exceptional run of form which has seen him make top ten finishes in his last two tournaments, just his second and third events since turning professional earlier this summer.
Meanwhile after a long break Holywood’s Rory McIlroy returns to action for the first time since the Scottish Open at the SAS Masters in Arlandastad Golf Club in Stockholm today.
l Malone’s Garth McGee is through to the third round of the Amateur Boys Championship at Little Aston near Birmingham after a two and one victory over England’s Jonathan Bell.
Ulster’s Jonny Caldwell and Paul Cutler have been named on a strong Irish side going to the home internationals at Muirfield next month.
