Not many seem to be aware you won the Haskins Award [the prize for the most outstanding collegiate golfer in the United States] or how big an honour it is. How important was that for your career?
It was a big deal for me to go to play college golf in America, something I'm very glad I ended up doing. It happened very much by chance and it was one of the best things that happened to me; it really helped me improve my game playing in the US for a few years. The Haskins Award is given to the top NCAA golfer and it was an honour to win it in 2002, when there were so many great players, many of whom have gone on to play on Tour, vying for it. It was a great honour to win it and the trophy currently sits in the hallway of my parents’ house in Portrush, along with some of the other amateur and professional awards I have picked up along the way.
When did you start playing and who has been the biggest influence on you?
I began playing golf when I was around six or seven. I was lucky to grow up in Portrush, a small town on the north coast of Ireland, which is home to one of the world’s best golf courses. I spent my childhood on the course, playing mostly with my little brother, who ironically was probably a better golfer than me at the time. My Dad was a member of Rathmore Golf Club, who share the course at Royal Portrush. He was a very keen player and still plays as much as he can now. He's played with me in the Dunhill Links a few times. My uncle Uel was my first real coach and he was a big influence for me as I was growing up.
The players I would have watched on television as a kid would have been the likes of Seve [Ballesteros] and Nick Faldo. Of course the only real golf we saw on TV back then was the Masters and The Open, which I watched religiously.
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