A SIGN of the austere times. Rebranded as “The Irish Open presented by Discover Ireland”, as the tourism body is providing the vast bulk of the prizefund as part of its marketing drive, this year’s tournament at Killarney Golf Fishing Club in Co Kerry next month will have a considerably reduced overall purse of €1.5 million.
That’s a 50 per cent drop from the €3 million when it was staged at the same venue just a year ago.
The good news? All of Ireland’s active Major champions – Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Pádraig Harrington – will be in the field. And, in terms of the tournament’s future, PGA European Tour chief executive George O’Grady, speaking at the tournament’s official announcement in Dublin yesterday, claimed he was extremely hopeful an international company would come on board as title sponsor in the coming years.
Having lost telecommunications company 3 as title sponsors after last year’s event, as the company switched its involvement to the FAI and the Irish soccer team, the search by the European Tour for a new sponsor, perhaps not surprisingly in these days of belt-tightening, proved to be elusive.
“There is a lot of sponsor interest, but not in time to make it work this year,” O’Grady remarked. “We would rather not take a one-year sponsorship, (and) we’re still talking to a solid international golf sponsorship (company) who have interests in Ireland.
“We’re looking for a long-term sponsor and think we will get it.”
In effect, this year’s Irish Open will become a four-day marketing pitch to potential sponsors.
It is believed Fáilte Ireland are putting in €1.25 million to the tournament, with the European Tour going close to matching that when prize-money and staging costs are taken into account.
And, obviously, there is a big push on ticket sales, with incentives such as offering a place on the pro-am team of US Open champion McIlroy to one lucky person who buys a ticket ahead of the tournament.
The whole-hearted support of this so-called golden generation of players is a big selling point in its own right. And Harrington, for one, sees the 50 per cent reduction in the prize-money as a somewhat necessary step.
“We are hoping that this is an in-between year, (looking) to find a sponsor going forward to try and enhance it,” he said “It’s probably not as high as it was in the ’80s, but it is certainly getting there in Killarney, the atmosphere and the players. The Irish Open is on the right path, and I do believe it is growing in stature again.”
Harrington, who pinpoints his 2007 Irish Open as the catalyst to go on a Major run that saw him win back-to-back British Opens (2007 and 2008) and a US PGA (2008), is convinced McIlroy will be a huge box office attraction.
“Everybody is talking about Rory: the excitement in his game, his age, his flair, the things he does . . . Rory is different. In terms of golf and his profile, he’s right there at the top and he has the ability, sporting-wise, to maybe transcend golf, to get people interested that wouldn’t necessarily think of going to watch a golf tournament. Rory will bring that sort of people to the event.”
As for being somewhat in McIlroy’s shadow now, Harrington remarked: “I really don’t feel like it’s a competition with Rory, or Graeme, for that matter. I’m well motivated in my own sense and don’t need those external factors.
“I suppose if I tee up at any Major and I don’t win, I’m happy to see him win, but first and foremost I’m trying to win. It’s not really a competition with anybody else. It’s a competition with yourself.”
Still, no harm having a bit of bite between the home players going into the Irish Open at a Killarney course slightly extended since last year when Ross Fisher won.
By the way, Fisher, picked up a cheque for €500,000. This year’s winner will take home half that, which puts the tournament on the same financial level as the Italian Open, the Hassan Trophy in Morocco and the Scandinavian Masters.
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