By IANS
New Delhi : Two rounds with Tiger Woods last week have done a world of good for Damien McGrane, who with a second round score of three-under 69 moved into the pole position after the morning session on the second day of the EMAAR-MGF Indian Masters at the Delhi Golf Club here.
The Irish professional, who has never won a pro tournament and is ranked as low as 311, is now eight-under 136. With Jyoti Randhawa making a mess of his second round – he shot a five over 77 – McGrane has put himself in prime position to make a bid for his first European Tour title.
Speaking of his experience of playing with Woods over the weekend, McGrane said, “You know, it’s nice to know that I played with the best player in the world, and survived the whole experience, and you know, once you’ve played with the best, anything else is second best or third best or whatever the case may be. But you know, this week Tiger’s moved on and so have I.”
McGrane, who played in the lead group with Woods at Dubai, had collapsed with a 79 in the final round and dropped to 44th. “What happened last week is truly over for me now and I’m trying to move on and obviously this is a new week and new tournament. You’ll never be fresh if you’re dreaming about the last week or the week before, you would be burned out in this game. So every week is a new start and a new opportunity. So what happened last week is history in my book.”
McGrane had begun taking a step in that direction with a steady second round that gives him a fair shot. With a big smile across his face, he announced, “I am possibly looking forward to spoiling the Indian party.”
Asked what would be his key to ruin the Indian party, McGrane said: “I backed yesterday’s game with a good round today. Today (Friday) I birdied the difficult holes than the easier ones luckily. I think score of 16 or 17 under at the end of four days will be a good one on this course.
“I would like to do the same thing day in and day out. I found a formula around the course that seems to give me good numbers. So, I will try to hit the same clubs off the same tee boxes and give myself as many birdie opportunities as possible.”
He went on to say that the chilly weather was a bit of concern but that didn’t make much difference as it was very similar to the conditions back home. McGrane also said that he was happy with his performances in the last four weeks.
“After my winter break, I think my performance has improved over the last four weeks. During the winter break I had planned to go for a vacation to Antarctica, but my ship got damaged and I had went to Santiago (Chile) with my friend for a nice vacation,” said the Irishman.
“To be honest I have played reasonably well since Abu Dhabi, my first tournament after the winter break. I have been hitting a lot of good shots and have been sneaking a few birdies here and there. So here it is just a continuation of what I have been doing.”
So what would be his schedule after four weeks of golf? The Irishman said that he would take two weeks off and then continue playing in Asia.
An adventure lover by heart, McGrane also said that he was pleased to see peacocks (national bird of India) dancing on the course. “That was a nice sight.”
Nicer still would be a trophy on Sunday.