THEY’VE STARTED to tick the boxes. Pádraig Harrington? Check. Shane Lowry? Check. Lee Westwood? Check. Yesterday, on the kind of sunny day any tournament would pay money to have switched to a date on the August bank holiday weekend, Rory McIlroy was confirmed for the 3 Irish Open, which takes place over the Killeen course at Killarney on July 29th-August 1st.
Although anticipated, McIlroy’s confirmation adds lustre to a tournament which, with a prize fund of €3 million, is in the top-three regular tournaments on the PGA European Tour outside of the majors and World Golf Championships. Only the PGA and the Dunhill Links have higher purses.
Still, it’s a measure of the choice that tour professionals have these days that the full strength of the field won’t be confirmed until another few weeks. Ben Watson, the championship director, said “it’s a competitive environment, work will be ongoing to get the best field and certainly a strong European field”.
On a day like yesterday, you’d have thought the panoramic views across the lakes would be sufficient to entice anybody here. As Redmond O’Donoghue, the chairman of Fáilte Ireland, put it, “no where on God’s earth can match the scenery of Killarney”.
Importantly, though, the State tourism agency have maintained their input along with title sponsors 3 to ensure the prize fund – in a decreasing market – remains at €3 million, as it was a year ago at Baltray.
O’Donoghue said the agency would “spend a lot more on golf, which is one of those areas where we see Ireland having a competitive advantage – our courses are as good if not better than anywhere in the world and we need to shout that loud and clear, and one of the most important vehicles for doing that is the Irish Open”.
McIlroy was on hand at the back of the 18th green in Baltray last year to salute Lowry’s win in the Irish Open.
Now, the number nine in the world has committed to the event and, following his breakthrough win on the PGA Tour in the Quail Hollow Championship last month, which came after unwinding by playing some social golf at home, he intends to follow a similar path ahead of the tournament in Killarney.
“I will be playing some social golf with my friends, so let’s hope it can inspire me to win,” he said.
Ahead of his Quail Hollow success, McIlroy and his caddie, JP Fitzgerald, played with some friends at Royal County Down and Royal Portrush.
“I went out and played with some friends and realised why I started to play the game in the first place, because I love it. You could definitely say there was a little bit of a kick up the backside from my friends,” he said.
The Irish Open takes place a fortnight after the British Open at St Andrews and two weeks ahead of the US PGA at Whistling Straits and, allied to the run-in to the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor, it should attract a strong European field, although it may prove more difficult to get Americans ahead of their FedEx Cup run-in.
The field is one side of the equation, the other is ensuring a large crowd. So, in an additional attempt to guarantee good gates, the annual Summerfest in Killarney has been expanded and will be staged over the same weekend, while an attractive pricing structure has been put in place, including family season tickets.
The Europe Hotel has also come on board as an official sponsor, the first Kerry-based business to come on board, but there are expected to be other ancillary sponsors named in the coming weeks.
