Paloma O'Shea's son-in-law did himself proud. There he was at the head of things at Valderrama yesterday, introducing the European team of 12 players for the biennial Ryder Cup match against the US, starting this morning. The European captain will be more familiar to the golfing public as Seve Ballesteros, the peasant farmer's son, who married Carmen Botin, the daughter of one of Spain's richest bankers. And Senora O'Shea? That happens to be the name of Carmen's mother.
This is the first European staging of the Ryder Cup outside of England and Scotland, and it comes at a price now familiar to our Government. Earlier yesterday, Dr Jim McDaid, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, formally confirmed that the event would be held in Ireland in 2005.
Dr McDaid, accompanied by Mr Matt McNulty, director general of Bord Failte, and Mr Padraig O hUiginn, director of Bord Failte, spoke of the Ryder Cup helping to double the country's intake from golf tourism to £200 million. And the price to the Exchequer is estimated at about £6 million, spread over seven years, starting on September 1st next year.
From a playing standpoint, Ireland has a proud record in the Ryder Cup. Indeed, Philip Walton delivered the winning point at Oak Hill, New York State, two years ago.
But on this occasion, there was an unhappy prelude for the Irish representative in the side. After learning that he would not be involved in the first series of matches this morning, Ulsterman Darren Clarke was curiously overlooked during the opening ceremony. With representatives from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Sweden, Spain, Denmark, Italy and Germany in the side, each player was highlighted on a large screen while his national anthem was played. For God Save the Queen, however, the camera picked out only the English, Scottish and Welsh players: Clarke was ignored.
It was a sad omission in respect of a player who played for an all-Ireland international golf team as an amateur, when such details would not have arisen.
Meanwhile, the staging of this weekend's event is a personal triumph for Jaime ("call me Jimmy") Ortiz-Patino (65), the grandson of Bolivian tin magnate, Simon Patino, who, back in 1947, had accumulated a fortune of about $4 billion.
With an inherited fortune, Patino became the outright owner of Valderrama 10 years ago for about £5 million and spent a further £5 million on enhancing it to the required standard. This weekend, he realises a cherished ambition in a country where he has lived for 30 years.
Although about 30,000 spectators will attend the Ryder Cup on each of the next three days, only 1,500 will be Spanish. Which would tend to make a nonsense of the undertaking, but for the huge pay-off which the Andalusian regional authority anticipates in increased tourism to the Costa del Sol.
Not unlike the objectives that Mr McDaid and his colleagues had in mind on their visit here yesterday.