McDowell urges major sponsor for next year to turn Irish Open back into premier event, writes ANNE LUCEYin Killarney
IT WAS only day one of the Irish Open in Killarney but already there was talk about the event returning next year for a third time in a row.
There was even growing speculation that Killarney could become the permanent home of Irish golf’s leading international event.
Despite the absence of a major sponsor, some 18,300 people converged on the lakeside course, 1,300 more than last year’s opening day figures, according to Fáilte Ireland. Pre-ticket sales were also up by 20 per cent this year, organisers said.
A shuttle bus service from St Mary’s Cathedral, courtesy VIP cars from BMW, plenty of gardaí on duty and free parking at Liebherr Ireland, the nearby German crane factory, also a sponsor, helped ensure there were no snarling traffic jams, even at noon.
In a live interview in the centre of the large tented village, which hosts a kids’ centre, music, coffee docks, shops and stands, Graeme McDowell drew a round of applause when he appealed for “a major sponsor” for next year to turn the Irish Open into a premier golf event, once again.
Of course he would like “an event” to be held up North, but the main thing was a sponsor, he replied to questions put by the audience.
With him, US Open cup in hand, Rory McIlroy described Killarney as “one of the best parkland courses in Ireland and a fun golf course to play”, with opportunities for plenty of birdies.
Light-hearted banter dominated the interview, with McIlroy describing how he had taken up golf at the age of two with plastic clubs following his father, Gerry.
McDowell, who won the US event in 2010, delighted the audience when he described how he had “sent the trophy all the way to the US and it only had to move an hour down the road” after McIlroy won it.
Kerry’s Waterville links course was one of his all-time favourite courses in the Republic of Ireland, McDowell revealed.
For McIlroy the best course in the South was Brittas Bay.
Both men, though, rated Royal Co Down in the North as tough and challenging.
Just to show politics cannot be kept out of golf for too long, Fine Gael presidential candidate Gay Mitchell followed on the appearance of his leader the previous day and was on the village green for the interviews with McDowell and McIlroy.
The campaign had not really started yet, Mr Mitchell stressed, so he was “not here for pressing the flesh” but to meet the people.