Irish John finally beaten by the system

Looking back on the recent stories out of the caddieshack at Firestone CC, it struck me that none could hold a candle to this classic about Tallaght's John O'Reilly. It concerned one of those extremely rare occasions when O'Reilly's famed resourcefulness failed him. In short, he was beaten by the system.

It was 1998 and he was in Atlanta, caddying for Padraig Harrington in the Sarazen World Open. For there, his next arraignment was in Auckland, New Zealand, where Harrington and Paul McGinley would be defending the World Cup which they had captured at Kiawah Island the previous year.

By the time O'Reilly eventually arrived at Gulf Harbour, however, the caddying fraternity couldn't contain their laughter at the incredibly circuitous journey he had taken there. Wherever one turned, the question was the same: "Did you hear about Irish John?" From Atlanta, the bould John decided to travel to San Francisco to see his son. In his pocket were two airline tickets which he had bought before leaving London originally, one a return flight to Atlanta and the other a ticket from Gatwick to Los Angeles and onwards to Auckland for the World Cup.

Given that he was now in San Francisco, O'Reilly reasoned that since he was already halfway to New Zealand, he should travel on from there. But there was a hitch. His friendly airline informed him that if he didn't pick up his ticket in London, as arranged, he would incur a $2,000 penalty.

So, the man who took considerable pride in operating by the seat of his pants, found those pants planted on aircraft seats from San Francisco to Atlanta, then to Heathrow from where he took the train to Gatwick. After a wait of several hours there, he flew to Atlanta, then to Los Angeles and finally on to Auckland.

It amounted to 44 hours of air travel across more time zones than even O'Reilly's agile brain could comprehend.

Ryder Cup countdown: Which four pairings achieved the most wins for Britain and Ireland/Europe? Answer at bottom of column.