Rising out of the shadow of the Mourne's part 2

The 2013 Irish Open will be a celebration of Irish golf, with the stars such as McIlroy, McDowell, Clarke, Harrington and McGinley returning from America to play in their national open. The last 10 days have been a celebration for one of the rising talents of Irish golf, Simon Thornton finally gravitated to the level of European Tour winner in France after five years struggling on the various levels of the European golfing pyramid. The former Royal County Down assistant broke through for his first win at the Aa Saint Omer Golf Club in a sudden-death play-off against South African Tjaart Van der Walt earlier this month, it was a career-changing win for Thornton. As recently as last year Thornton was considering his future as a tour professional, after falling back onto the Challenge Tour and struggling to keep the balance between dedication to his profession and the role as a father and husband. It is a stress that most tour professionals have to deal with at some stage of their career, unless they are one of the world's elite golfers. Travelling Europe and the rest of the world may seem like a glamorous lifestyle to lead, and it is if you are making millions of dollars each year, but it can be a very difficult thing to do and it can take its toll if success isn't forthcoming. The weekly struggle of trying to make the halfway cut and trying to survive on tour and provide a home for your family can overshadow the glamour of visiting locations such as Madrid, Vilamoura, Turin, Amsterdam, Vienna, Cologne, Stockholm and Johannesburg. This seemingly endless battle to fulfil the potential shown at a younger age was overcome at the Najeti Hotels Golf Open, understandably Thornton was emotional afterwards.

On the same day as Simon claimed his maiden European Tour title an Englishman was lifting his first major championship over 5.000 miles West of Calais, incredibly both Justin Rose and Simon Thornton share a painful and sad bond. 

Both Justin and Simon lost their fathers, Mr Rose died in 2002 and Mr Thornton in 2010, and their biggest career successes came on Father's day, making the wins even more emotionally significant to them.

“The look up to the heavens was absolutely for my dad,” he continued. “Father's Day was not lost on me today.  You don't have opportunities to really dedicate a win to someone you love.  
“Today was about him and being Father's Day. I got a beautiful text that said go out and be the man your dad taught you to be and be the man that your kids can be proud and look up to. That's how I tried to carry myself out there; my dad was the inspiration the whole day." Justin Rose after he won the US Open.

“It’s so big for me,” said a tearful Thornton. “On father’s day too, he passed away three years ago and it still hurts, but they are happy tears today. This is dedicated to him." Simon Thornton after he won the Najeti Hotels Open.

Simon's 2013 season prior to winning in France was one of struggle, in four starts on the Challenge Tour he had only earned around €5,000 and his best performance was a tie for 18th in Madrid. The win at the Najeti Hotels Open changes everything for Thornton though, the win moves him into a higher category meaning he gets into almost every regular European Tour event for the remainder of this season and whole of next. Which means he will begin next season, not struggling in the early year events, at the Volvo Golf Champions and he can plan his schedule and prepare for a tournament like a top golfer does, not having to hop from one tournament to another not knowing if or when he will be teeing it up. But at the end of Thursday in France it certainly didn't seem like a life-changing victory was around the corner, in fact just making another Challenge Tour cut was a hard enough task. Five bogeys resulted in an opening 74 and the front nine of the second round seemed to have condemned the Irishman to another weekend off. 2 bogeys and a treble-bogey 7 left him at 8-over-par and four outside the cut mark. But a blistering back nine of 31 saw him make the cut by 1 stroke and the scene was set for a day which would transform the fortunes of the 36-year-old. A bogey at the fourth hole was followed by birdies at 7, 12 and 15 sandwiched two eagles at 9 and 11 to see Thornton home in a 6-under-par 65 and assume a share of the 54-hole lead on 4-under-par with Tjaart Van der Walt and Baptiste Chapellan.

I first watched Simon play golf at the 2006 Smurfit Kappa European Open on the Smurfit course at the K Club, he was playing due to his performances in the PGA Irish Region, and the clear weakness from an on-looker was the putting. Time after time on the final day in France though Thornton sunk putts for par or birdie to keep his hopes of a first European Tour title alive, and it was just one of those putts at the 72nd hole which forced him into a play-off with South African Tjaart Van der Walt. The pair returned to play the 18th hole and following a solid drive and second shot Simon stood back and watch Van der Walt find the green-side bunker. A camera's click disturbed the South African and he failed to put the ball close enough to keep the play-off going. His putt rolled past the hole and for Thornton his world had changed forever.

Whatever happens this week or in the remainder of 2013 Simon's world has changed and his career has moved to a level he couldn't have dreamed about 12 months ago.  In a year from now maybe Reeve Whitson will be celebrating a first European Tour victory, the Spanish Amateur Champion has moved into the world's 45 leading amateur golfers and is in contention for a Walker Cup place this September. After the biennial team matches on Long Island the County Down starlet plans to turn professional and put what has been a highly impressive season behind him to conclude his amateur career. The historic win at La Manga in March gave Whitson the opportunity to make his European Tour debut at the Spanish Open on the links layout at El Saler near Valencia. Rounds of 81 and 77 meant he missed the cut by some 8 shots but the outcome at his first European Tour event never really mattered, the experience will stand him in good stead for this week's Irish Open and the future tour events he will undoubtedly play in during his career. The event was made even more special for Reeve with the presence of his family including his brother Rory, mother Eileen and father and coach Kevan, plus several of his closest friends. All will be present once again at Carton House this week to see the next step in the burgeoning career of Ireland's next great, young talent as Reeve makes his Irish Open debut at the home of the Golfing Union of Ireland, a place he is very familiar with given the support the association has provided the Ulsterman. After the Spanish Open the next significant event in the amateur calendar was at the 2012 Open Championship venue, Royal Lytham and St Anne's.

The Lytham Trophy has become one of the leading links based amateur tournaments in golf and attracts a truly international field of talented players, including Reeve Whitson. The conditions in Lancashire that week were distinctly different to what he had faced at the Spanish Open, with wind and rain battering the course over two days in May leading to a standard scratch score of 78 in the first round and 76 in the final three rounds on a course where the par was 70. Reeve bettered the standard scratch each round and posted a very respectable fifth place finish, 12-over-par and some five shots behind the winning score of 7-over. He then returned to Ireland for the Irish Amateur Open at Royal Dublin Golf Club where rounds of 80 and 75 saw him miss the cut before heading back across the Irish sea for the Scottish Amateur Championship at Southerness Golf Club. Another missed cut after rounds of 75 and 77 stalled his momentum but a trip to the Home of Golf would see Whitson return to the sort of form he showed at Royal Lytham. It was at the St Andrews Links Trophy that I got to meet up with Reeve for the first time since 2006, the boy has become a man and he hits the ball like any professional you could care to watch. What impressed me most about him was the way he managed his game and responded to set backs on the golf course, and he came away from the tournament knowing that he could have done better but also realising a 12th place finish was a decent performance. Mistakes on the closing four holes in the first round on the Jubilee Course, plus a double-bogey at the Road Hole in the third round ultimately cost him a shot at the title, but his four round score of 289, 1-over-par earned him enough ranking points to move into the top 50 amateurs in the world.

This opens up the possibility for the 21-year-old to play at The Country Club, Brookline in the US Amateur Championship this August. 

The Amateur Championship followed the Links Trophy but Reeve missed the cut by a solitary shot, denting his hopes of a first Walker Cup appearance. However, I walked the back nine of the first round at the Links Trophy with one of the Walker Cup selectors and there can be no question that he was watching Reeve for a reason, he wasn't giving anything away but I would be very surprised if the Spanish Amateur Champion wasn't in the minds of the men who choose the Great Britain and Ireland team for the match at the National Golf Links of America.

It would be a massive achievement and step on the road to being selected if Reeve made the cut this week in his Irish Open debut, but then why stop at dreaming something greater could be achieved. If Shane Lowry can win the Irish Open as an amateur then why can't Reeve Whitson? Lowry was looking forward to a Walker Cup debut in 2009 before his four rounds at County Louth changed everything, will we be saying the same thing about Reeve on Sunday? I for one won't discount anything, this is golf.

Reeve tees off his first round at 12.30pm on Thursday and Simon at 1.20pm off the first tee of the Montgomerie Course at Carton House, I wish both of them the best of luck and look forward to reporting on their achievements in the Irish Open and the rest of the season in the next edition of Rising out of the shadow of the Mourne's in August. 

This blog was completed with the assistance and expressed permission of both Reeve Whitson and Simon Thornton.


You can catch live coverage of the Irish Open on Sky Sports 1 in the UK 10am-1pm and 3pm-6pm and RTE in Ireland 11.15am-12.45pm and 2.25pm-5.40pm