Woods already locked in for charity event

Keith Dugganfinds Pádraig Harrington and tycoon JP McManus in fine fettle as they discuss the next instalment of a contest that has netted €56m for local charities

IT HAS felt like a week in which Limerick has been at the epicentre of the sporting world. Among the thrilled masses standing in Thomond Park on Tuesday night as the Munster rugby team again conjured their own brand of black magic against New Zealand were Pádraig Harrington and JP McManus, men whose names carry associations with the highest achievements in sport.

Yesterday morning, they remained in fine humour at Adare Manor as they chatted at the launch of the fifth JP McManus Invitational Pro-Am tournament. The lucrative charity event - it has netted the almost €56 million for local charities - is set for the venue in July of 2010, and already Tiger Woods has promised his attendance.

But with the atmosphere around Limerick still slightly charged after the latest Munster show of defiance and daring, both men were happy to reflect on what they had witnessed in Thomond Park before turning to the business at hand.

"With five minutes to go," McManus said, twinkling as he spoke of a rugby match that has already begun coppering towards legend, "I was beginning to think the All Blacks hadn't learned anything in 30 years."

Although Harrington is the quintessential Dubliner, he happily admitted he found himself belting out the Munster anthems during the match.

It seems clear now that no matter how high Harrington ascends in golf's stratosphere he will remain one of the most pleasingly unaffected stars operating in elite sport.

He is a great ambassador for an event like the JP McManus Pro-Am precisely because he has not got an ounce of preciousness about him.

Yesterday, the three-time major winner spoke with boyish enthusiasm about his novice experience of Thomond Park and of the players he found himself watching.

"Well, Peter Stringer is a player I have always admired. I don't know him, I have met him once or twice. But I would pick him out as one of my sporting heroes," he declared with typical candour.

"I mean, he is someone who is obviously slightly disadvantaged on the pitch in terms of size, but he had a phenomenal game, as he has had so often. And to see the lack of . . . the lack of fear was something. The attitude was: 'let's get it done and come what may'."

That fairly much summed up the mood behind the JP McManus Pro-Am as well.

As the Limerick-born businessman alluded to, these are straitened times in which to be launching a major charity event. National optimism has dipped sharply since the last event, held in the summer of 2005 and raising a whopping €30.5 million.

McManus said he would be "foolhardy" to predict topping that, but was cautiously optimistic about what the months between now and the charity extravaganza may mean for the Irish economy.

"I don't think it is an Irish problem," he said, when asked about the stark deterioration in the health of the national economic forecast.

"It is a worldwide problem. I think Ireland has its own problems. But obviously it is going to be a challenge and we need to deal with it.

"We need to get the message out there loud and clear. A lot can happen in two years. We will do our best. I mean, people have problems. We always have problems and now they are probably more serious. But there is nobody that hasn't been affected in some form or another. But we will work through it.

"It is a challenge and maybe that makes it more interesting," he continued, in relation to the pro-am.

"In 2005, we had 8,600 participants who played in the qualifiers. And it is more important than ever we get these people back to play. When they play, the various charities charge different prices for their team.

"And the last time what happened was, for every €10,000 raised they got a team into the grand qualifier, and for every 10 teams that got into that, one team went on to play in the main event. We do have a completely open draw. It is transparent, believe it or not. So anybody who plays and qualifies has an equal chance of playing with Pádraig or Tiger or whoever. And I think that makes in interesting.

"But it is going to be a challenge. If we do (exceed the '05 total raised), we do. If we don't, then we will make do with whatever we get."

Snaring the Tiger is bound to attract another strong entry. As Harrington points out, the McManus competition commands a field no tournament outside the majors can match. He did hint that the persuasive touch of its founder did help to encourage his fellow professionals to make the Limerick event part of their schedule.

When talk turned to Augusta, Harrington joked he spent much of his time there being entertained at McManus's quarters.

"We play cards - he teaches me a thing or two," he grinned.

His host raised an eyebrow and leaned forward to interject.

"I have taught him too well."

Reminiscing about his last experience in this event in 2005, Harrington recalled playing with Tony McCoy, Mick Fitzgerald and Michael Owen, who, he declared "looked like the jockey out of the three of them". The foursome had been signing autographs along the course and, on the 18th, two kids broke the ropes and charged in Harrington's direction, waving pages awaiting signature.

"So I pulled out the pen and had the top off and was waiting there," said Harrington.

"And it felt like there was 10,000 people watching - this was the 18th. I had the chest out, pen at the ready. And then the two boys just raced either side of me and ran straight to Michael Owen. And I was left standing with the pen. I was never allowed forget that. There is always something to keep you in place."

But that has never been a problem for the Dublin man. Even if he has another major or two under his belt by the time he defends his McManus title, it is unlikely he will have forgotten himself. Like the Munster men he cheered on the previous evening, he knows where he comes from.

THE JP McMANUS INVITATIONAL PRO-AM

THE TOURNAMENT takes place at Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Resort on the July 5th-6th, 2010.

The event has a prize fund of €1 million. The format is 56 teams of four players (one professional and three amateurs per team).

Tickets - in the form of baseball caps based on a county allegiance - will go on sale from April 2009 in a number of outlets in Limerick city. They will also be available at jpmcmanusproam.com.

Since the inaugural event in 1990, the tournament has been held every five years and has attracted the leading golf lights of the day.

The aim of the event is to support mid-western charities and groups and proceeds are donated in their entirety towards the relevant services. Beneficiary charities will organise pre-qualifying tournaments throughout the country in the hope of entering teams in the main event.

Over 49,000 spectators showed up for the last tournament in 2005.