Carey returns to scene of Open qualifying heroics
David Carey. Credit: Tristan Jones
David Carey returns to the scene of his Open Championship heroics this week but he’s also got one eye on the American Dream.
The Dubliner (26) brilliantly won his Final Qualifying event for The 150th Open at Fairmont St Andrews and after going into the weekend inside the top-20 at the Old Course, he’s secured a sponsor’s invitation to play in his first regular DP World Tour event this week.
He joins Jonathan Caldwell, Simon Thornton, Cormac Sharvin and Paul Dunne in the €1.75 million Hero Open at Fairmont St Andrews, looking for another big week as he prepares his game for the European and Korn Ferry Tour Q-Schools.
“It’s great to be going to a course where I won three weeks ago,” he said of Fairmont St Andrews where he topped Open Qualifying by four shots. “It’s fantastic to be playing my first DP World Tour event there and hopefully I can continue the form I had last time.”
After testing positive for Covid on his return from St Andrews, he wonders if that might have affected his performance on the Old Course, where followed rounds of 72 and 67 with a pair of 73s to tie for 62nd on three-under, one shot better than Masters champions Sergio Garcia and Hideki Matsuyama
“It’s very hard to know,” added Carey, who is now exempt into the penultimate Q-School event for the PGA Tour’s second tier Korn Ferry Tour. “I just know on Sunday all my numbers were down and we just put it down to fatigue. Maybe it’s a coincidence.
“The weekend was still disappointing but overall it was a step forward. Going there I didn’t know what to expect. It was very different to TV. I was less than an hour behind Tiger on Thursday and as I was playing seven and eight, he was going down 10 and 11 and had those roars, which was a new experience.
“Everything was so new and different and to have made it through into the weekend in the top 20 was great. I didn’t have the best draw, finishing in the dark on Thursday so there were a lot of different challenges that were unexpected.
“But competing with the best players in the world shows that’s where I should be. I was probably a little hard on myself at the weekend just through disappointment. But two 73s wasn’t a complete disaster.”
While he’d normally play the Irish Challenge at The K Club this week, he’s got chance to show his mettle alongside the big guns again.
Having missed four Alps Tour events due to The Open and Covid, he’slooking to take advantage of Challenge Tour invitations before heading to Korn Ferry Tour Q-School in October.
“I think it would be a good fit for me,” he said of the US.
“I’ve had three top 10s in five winter events in Florida and I’d like to have another go at Q-School after missing at First Stage last year.”
