Higgins and McGrane bow out at Turnberry

David Higgins watched his Open dream blown away at Turnberry.

The Waterville ace Higgins, 37, was licking his lips when he saw high winds lashing the course but dropped eight shots in a 10-hole stretch from the fifth to the 14th and signed for a 75 that left him out in the cold on eight over par.

Despite finishing with birdies at the 15th and 17th, Higgins groaned: “I’m disappointed. I didn’t play any good again today. I fought hard on the way home because you have to keep it going. But if you don’t play well on a course like that, you get eaten up.

“It’s really disappointing that I didn’t take advantage of my love for links golf, but life goes on. It was windy today and much tougher but I was really looking forward to it this morning. I thought, ‘Jeez this is a good chance’.

“I got a nice start at one and almost birdied the second as well. I thought I could get stuck in but I just hit bad shots.”

Higgins plans to battle for the Irish Region order of merit for the rest of the season before heading to the qualifying school.

He said: “I’ve just got to keep trying and keep improving and have another crack.”

But Damien McGrane does not believe he has to work on any areas of his game despite crashing out on 12 over after a second round 74.

The Kells man was off form with his driver and putter and never had a chance of making an impact.

He said: “The course is a big challenge and I was scrappy and I didn’t score well. You have to sneak your pars whenever possible and I wasn’t doing that. I was dropping shots at every opportunity.

“I enjoyed the experience and the crowds give you great encouragement even when you are not playing well.

“But I still think it’s a tournament like any other. You must hit fairways and greens and hole a few putts. No matter what way you look at it, that's the way it is."