Frustrated that he’s still winless after 236 tour starts, Murphy lives just down the road from the course and confessed that he’s frustrated that he hasn’t joined the Irish tour winning bandwagon.

Gary Murphy wants to join pal Damien McGrane in the winner's circle.

He said: “I’ve been on tour for nine years now and it’s a long time, especially with all the Irish guys winning in the last year or so.

“We have more tour players winning than France and it’s frustrating that I haven’t joined them as well. There is nothing you can do about it only keep on trying and see what happens.”

Now 36, top ball-striker Murphy is regarded as a serial underachiever by the likes of Darren Clarke, who reckons he has the talent to challenge for titles on a regular basis.

But the former Irish Close champion has been battling at the other end of the scale in recent years and needed some big finishes to keep his tour card.

Last year he racked up the best finish of his European Tour career when he tied for third place in the Irish Open at Adare Manor.

But he’s hoping to push his career to a new level by becoming Mr Consistency and hoping his experience will soon start to pay off.

He said: “You want to win tournaments and you want to be in a position every week to try and do that and that’s something I need to improve on.

“I probably feel like I should be a lot higher up the Order of Merit than I have been over the years and it’s a work in progress. Maybe I’ll be better in my later years that I was in my early years.

“I’ve been guilty in the past of playing too much and turning up at tournaments not really ready to compete, but kind of playing because you are stressing about keeping your card.

“If you look at the top players, they play a lot less than the guys at the other end. That’s probably to do with the seven figures in their bank account as well!”

Murphy lives just a few hundred yards from the first tee and but knows he’ll always be considered a “blow-in” despite the fact that he married local girl Elaine Kelly in 2003.

He joked: “It’s great for me. I only live around the corner, so it’s a lot better than going to China and the money is better. I’ve got a little more confidence than I had coming into the Irish Open last year as well.

“I’ve lived in Baltray for eight years and met my wife here when the Irish PGA was here in 2000. But I’ll always been considered a Kilkenny man even if I win 10 majors.”

Murphy doesn’t want gale force winds on a course he loves and reckons there could be a birdie bonanza this week if the wind fails to blow.

He said: “If it’s benign out there I would not be surprised to see someone go mad. But there is a two or three club wind blowing now so the course will probably hold up.”

But the two-time major winner, 43, is hoping to continue his hot run of form and claw his way back from the doldrums to become a force again.

John Daly is back in Ireland

With a little Irish luck he’s hoping he can recapture the kind of form that saw him lift the Open title at St Andrews in 1995 and finish a brilliant second in last week’s Italian Open.

Looking forward to the links challenge, he said: “I love it. It’s so different from target golf. Imagination plays such a big part on a links course.

“Last week in Italy, if I didn’t make a birdie on certain holes, I was going to lose a shot to the field. But here, with weather like this, you walk off sometimes with a bogey and you’re happy.”

Daly has grabbed yards of publicity in recent weeks by arriving in Europe with 20 pairs outrageous slacks designed by Loudmouth Golf.

Wearing a pair of bright orange checked pants, he said: “I could sleep in them as pyjamas, wake up, play golf in them, put on an orange sport coat and go to dinner.”

But he’s more interested in proving that he’s not all mouth and trousers and hopes to hit the headlines for his golf rather than his wardrobe.

He said: “I love to play the game and I’m very competitive and that’s what keeps me going. I don’t know if this is the last chance or what but I feel like I’m getting up there in age and I’ve got a lot of good play in me yet.”

He’s already up to 79th in the Race to Dubai and with little opportunity of keeping his card on the PGA Tour this year, he’s almost certain to play more in Europe.

And a win at Baltray, where the winner will pocket €500,000, would catapult him into the top ten in the money list.

Bracing himself for a massive test on a course were 25 mph east winds have left him scratching his head about how to tackle the course, he said: “I’m still not comfortable off the tee here and that concerns me a little bit.

“There are seven or eight holes out there where I stand on the tee and I look at them and I don’t have a clue what to hit off the tee when the wind is blowing like this.

“It’s about patience as well because you are going to get some bad bounces and some good bounces. But it is also about avoiding the bunkers because you have got to chip out of them just like at the British Open.”

Aussie Brett Rumford won with a 14 under par total when the Irish Open first visited Baltray in 2004.

But Daly said: “If the weather is going to be like this I’ll take even par in a heartbeat.”

Famous for his party lifestyle and addictions to drink and gambling, he went fishing at Clogherhead with some Baltray members last night and promised to stay away from the Guinness.

The American ace has slimmed down from 20 stone to just 16 thanks to stomach surgery and plans to lose a lot more weight over the next few months.

But that means he won’t be trying Ireland’s most famous export, insisting: “You won’t see me drinking a Guinness this week. One, my lap band won’t allow it. And two, when you drink a beer in the States you can drink 12 or 13 and get a little buzz. Here it just takes one because it’s so strong.”

The Scot got wanted three picks instead of two and got the decision he wanted after a marathon three-hour meeting of the Tournament Players Committee at Irish Open venue Baltray.

Colin Montgomerie is strapped in for the Ryder Cup

Five players will still qualify from the European Points List but Montgomerie believes he will have a stronger side to take on Corey Pavin’s United States 12-man team with three wild cards instead of two.

Montgomerie said: “We want to have the strongest team possible and that’s what we are trying to achieve and hopefully we have put one foot towards that tonight.

“I am leaving the meeting delighted that I have one more option. It is a stronger hand picked team but it is a stronger tour as well.

“This European Tour is gaining in strength in strength all the time and we have stronger players in depth than ever before but I am leaving this meeting very confident and very happy that I have got what I was looking for, which was one more option and that is what I have right now.”

Committee member Paul McGinley would not reveal if a vote had been taken.

He said: “It was a great meeting with a lot of strong personalities. There were a lot of current and past Ryder Cup players there and I think the right decision was made.”

The European Tour issued the following statement after the meeting:

“After discussion with Europe’s 2010 Captain, Colin Montgomerie, it was decided that the leading four players from The Ryder Cup World Points List would be joined by the leading five players, not otherwise qualified (having selected the four players from The Ryder Cup World Points List) from The Ryder Cup European Points List in automatically qualifying for Europe’s 2010 Ryder Cup Team at the end of the qualification period.

“Those nine players will then be joined by three Captain’s Picks to make up the 12-man Team to take on the USA over The Twenty Ten Course at The Celtic Manor Resort, City of Newport, Wales, from October 1-3, 2010.”

But the lure of European golf is not the only home comfort the Holywood hotshot has on his mind as he heads to Baltray for what he hopes will be a birdie bonanza.

With a move to the PGA Tour firmly knocked on the head for the next few years, McIlroy has splashed out £GB 2.2 million on a new, 13-acre pad at Moneyreagh, just a 20 minute drive south of Belfast.

The future Chez McIlroy?

Excited about the prospect of building a driving range and swing studio that will put him in the same league as Padraig Harrington, he said: “I never thought I’d have made enough money to do something like that. I’d been looking at land for a while and this place came up. It’s perfect.

“It’s got a house that’s only three years old and a gym as well. It’s a beautiful place. It’s even got its own lake and a separate guest house as well, so there’s more than enough room for everyone to come and stay.”

McIlroy bought himself a five-bedroom house near his family home shortly after he turned professional in 2007.

But he has rocketed up the world rankings since then, winning the Dubai Desert Classic and racking up more than €2.5 million in tournament earnings in just 20 months as a professional.

He has also signed sponsorship deals with Dubai based Jumeriah Hotels, equipment giants Titleist, shoemakers Footjoy, construction company Bennett and financial gurus FL Partners.

Not only that, he represents the luxury Lough Erne Resort in Fermanagh as its touring professional and will play a $300,000 exhibition match against Harrington – dubbed the Duel on the Lough – on July 22.

He has a house there too, as well as the use of a villa in Dubai, but his plan is to keep his feet on the ground and stay close to his Ulster roots for the next few years before taking on the PGA Tour.

Explaining his plans for his dream home he said: “It’s still in the process. But we have agreed everything and it will be a done deal on July 31 and hopefully it will be ready by next spring.

“It’s 13 acres, there’s already a house on five acres and then there’s two four acre paddocks and one of the paddocks is perfect.

“It’s quite narrow but it’s quite long, so you could clear a few trees out and make a perfect range.”

Harrington spent a fortune on an indoor golf room and a floodlit outdoor practice ground with multiple greens he calls “Elysian Fields” at his palatial Rathmichael home in south Dublin.

McIlroy visited the triple major champion there shortly after turning pro but he has plans for a more modest but equally impressive facility that could soon be dubbed “Rory’s Range.”

He explained: “I’ve got enough room to do everything. I’ve space for a separate short game facility and a 280-yard driving range. Basically everything.

“I’m actually going to use the guys that built Lough Erne to build the range. They are going to come and have a look at what I have and will design a place for me. So I don’t think it’ll cost astronomical prices.

“As for the house where I currently live, I’m not sure. The way the current market is, I’ll probably keep it for a while until it comes back again.

“The great thing about this place is that there’s more than enough room to bring a lot of people over.

“I mean it’s perfect and the completion date is July 31 and we’ll try and get everything underway. Hopefully it will be ready by next spring.”

McIlroy’s focussed on Europe right now and the 3 Irish Open is the second event in a four tournament run that will take him to Wentworth for next week’s BMW PGA Championship and the European Open at the London Club.

After missing the cut by seven shots in the Players Championship at Sawgrass, he’s seen enough of the US for the moment and will only return for the Majors and World Golf Championships this season.

Speaking in Florida, he said: “I don’t see myself playing over here full time. I don’t see myself taking my card here, to be honest. I wouldn’t mind playing my World Golf Championships and my Majors over here and that’s it. I feel more comfortable in Europe.

“If I can play 15 events in Europe and then add in the World Championships and Majors, that’s more than enough. Play a couple in Asia in the winter months and that’d be fine.”

McIlroy experience a massive high at the Masters but found the atmosphere flat in Hilton Head the following week and was stuck at the back of the field at Sawgrass and failed to perform.

“I just didn’t have an atmosphere or a buzz to go out and really try. But it will be different at Baltray I’m looking forward to playing in front of thousands of people and the course should be set up for scoring.”

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