Over the four days, despite the rain, the Irish Open attracted 112,280 spectators
AND STILL the rain fell, and still the crowds came to Royal Portrush. On the final day of the Irish Open the hope was that one of the four Irish winners of majors might head the leaderboard when the last putt was holed.
In truth, most locals probably wanted Rory McIlroy to take the title, followed by either Darren Clarke or Graeme McDowell and failing one of the Northern Ireland trio then, of course, they would have happily cheered southerner Pádraig Harrington home.
Certainly, when he emerged yesterday as the last real Irish hope, he drew a large and enthusiastic following, the numbers as deep as they were at the bar in the large tented village. He may not have won but for a time during the week he had his famous focus, smile and mojo back.
Most people though would not have begrudged Welshman Jamie Donaldson his four-shot victory, his €333,330 cheque and his first win on the European tour after years of trying – a case of 255th time lucky. He was ahead of Englishman Anthony Wall, the Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Fabrizio Zanotti from Paraguay.
But there was certainly one Irish winner and that was Royal Portrush itself. The weekend ended with the golfers praising the course and official talk of future Irish Opens at the beautiful north-coast venue. There is also continued speculation about a British Open – just possibly in 2018 – but that may take longer to nail down.
The crowds were big, proving that Portrush and Northern Ireland have the capacity to cope with such a major golfing tournament. Over the four days the Open attracted 112,280 spectators. Taking in the week, which included the Pro-am on Wednesday and the practice round on Tuesday, there were 130,785 visitors to Portrush.
And such a hardy crew. Throughout the week the weather continued to oscillate between (just occasionally) sunny, (occasionally) dry and (much more regularly) miserable and brutal but it didn’t deter the large galleries who, when it hailed, seemed to treat the whole festival as a sort of Woodstock for golfing fans.
For instance, a busy man yesterday was tour worker Darrell O’Hora from Kildare. In car park two, he was using his 4X4 Nissan Patrol to haul cars out of the muck, including this reporter’s vehicle.
On the practice range yesterday morning Banbridge golf professional Jason Greenaway and his wife Rhonda brought their very young son Jake along to observe Rory McIlroy working on his swing.
The golfer was more than happy to pose for a family photograph. And had Jake anything to say to Rory, asked his dad. “Yes,” said Jake, “Get in the hole.” That was sharp from Jake but it must be said that the crowd, who know their golf, was not guilty of using this terrible shout that seems to accompany every golfer as they tee-off on the US circuit.
McIlroy didn’t quite live up to Jake’s expectations, on this weekend at least, but he too enjoyed the golf and also the romantic disposition of some of the spectators. As he was heading down the 10th fairway a group emerged from one of the grub and drink tents to cheer him on. As his girlfriend, the tennis player Caroline Wozniacki, passed by they sang as one, “Sweet Caroline” earning a smile from the golfer and a happy wave from Wozniacki.
