Government’s continued financial assistance vital to Irish Open’s survival

The government’s financial assistance in using the Irish Open – which takes place at Carton House in Maynooth, Co Kildare on June 27th-30th – as one of its key marketing tools is vital to the tournament’s survival in the absence of a title sponsor, according to the European Tour’s James Finnigan.

“Without the government, we’d run the risk of what’s happened to the English Open or the European Open. Once it disappears from the schedule, it’d be very hard to get back on board,” conceded Finnigan, speaking at yesterday’s four-week countdown to the €2 million tournament which will feature all four of Ireland’s modern Major champions, including world number two Rory McIlroy.

The Irish Open hasn't had a title sponsor since 2010, when telecommunications group 3 switched their primary sporting sponsorship from golf to soccer. The search for a successor has, as Finnigan put it, proven "elusive", but he added: "We're hopeful. We've a number of people coming to this year's tournament with a view to potential investment . . . hopefully, somebody will be brave enough to say, 'I'll associate my business with golf and develop my business on golf'."

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Despite the lack of a title sponsor, this year's tournament – supported by Fáilte Ireland and blue chip associate sponsors including Emirates Airlines, BMW, Heineken, Moy Park, Waterford Crystal, Rolex, Tullow Oil, Ballygown, Abacus and, of course, Carton House – has the potential to be one of the top regular events on the European Tour this season. It follows the hugely successful staging at Royal Portrush last year, when the tournament became the first in the history of the European Tour to be totally sold out.

Among the initiatives announced yesterday is a ground-breaking – for the European Tour - move that will see the signature par-three 17th turned into a amphitheatre with a grandstand running from the green to the tee and a giant television screen positioned opposite the seating, which require advance reservations. The hole will be renamed “Open House at 17” (pictured above as an artist’s impression) with the intention of recreating the party atmosphere associated with the Phoenix Open.

The organisers have also launched the "Three Towns" initiative with three former Irish Open champions – Ross Fisher, Richard Bland and Brett Rumford, already a two-time winner on tour this season – assuming ambassadorial roles with Maynooth, Leixlip and Celbridge. As Conor Mallaghan of Carton House pointed out, there is a population of almost 50,000 within two kilometres of the estate's main entrance and the intention is to include the surrounding towns in making the Irish Open a week-long festival.

Although tournament entries have yet to be finalised, five players currently in the world’s top 50 – McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Francesco Molinari, defending champion Jamie Donaldson and Thongchai Jaidee – have all already confirmed their presence. Adcance tickets are available, including a special ticket for Saturday that also enables entry to the Irish Derby at the Curragh, from www.europeantour.com/tickets.