TOUR NEWS
JMC Sport client Mark Power booked his place at next month’s Amgen Irish Open at Royal County Down after winning the Christy O’Connor Junior Memorial Trophy at the recent Irish Challenge at the K Club.
The trophy has been awarded to the leading player from the island of Ireland at the Irish Challenge since 2016, and Power will tee it up in the $6 million DP World Tour event where he made his professional debut a year ago.
The Irishman was two strokes behind fellow JMC Sport client John Murphy heading into the final round on the Palmer South Course at The K Club, but fired a two under par 70 to move into a share of 11th place, earning a spot alongside the stars in Newcastle, including Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry and Padraig Harrington and fellow JMC Sport client Tom McKibbin.
“This is huge for me, and I’m delighted to receive the award and book my place at Royal County Down,” said Power, who represented GB&I in the 2023 Walker Cup. “My first professional event was the Irish Open at The K Club last year and there couldn’t have been a bigger event for me to play in as an Irishman.
“As soon as that week was over, I told myself that I needed to play in the Irish Open again and I can’t wait to tee it up at Royal County Down later this year.
“I have to say a big thank you to Golf Ireland who have gave me plenty of opportunities when I was an amateur to play in professional tournaments and I feel like those experiences have been invaluable.”
It will be Power’s fifth appearance at the Irish Open, having made his debut in the event as an amateur in 2020 at Galgorm. On his professional debut last year at The K Club, he finished in a share of 33rd place.
Power recorded his best finish in four appearances at the Irish Challenge. After a triple bogey on the par four 16th Power’s place at the Amgen Irish Open was in the balance, but he rallied with birdies on the last two holes.
“It was very tough out there. Thankfully we missed the rain, but it was very windy, and scoring was difficult. I was going well until I had a bit of a stumble on 16, however it was great to bounce back with two birdies to finish. Overall, I’m very happy with the week.
“I’m used to flighting the ball down and keeping everything tight and hitting fairways. My goal is to always try and avoid the big numbers and I did that for the majority of the week. The course was fantastic, and it was a great set up out there.
“My putting has been good this week and I’ve also managed to get up and down from some tricky spots. I’ve worked hard on my putting in recent weeks and it’s nice to see it paying off in the big tournaments.”
The 2024 Amgen Irish Open will take place at Royal County Down from September 11-15.