Having landed John Daly for the Murphy's Irish Open at Druids Glen next July, the sponsors are to face an additional outlay for television coverage. This results from the decision by RTE to break with tradition by not filming the event.
"The signal, which we have been producing at a cost of about £500,000, is being exploited by other outlets and I'm not prepared to allow this practice to continue at the licence payer's expense," said RTE Head of Sport Tim O'Connor last night.
"We cannot justify such an outlay on the basis of the audience figures. For instance, the Irish Open telecast in recent years has attracted only about a quarter of the audience for the GAA match on our other channel."
Though the Irish Open will still be transmitted by RTE, another, independent company will be producing the signal. "This will mean an additional cost to Murphy's, but we would expect to recoup the money by selling the signal elsewhere," said tournament director David Linnane.
Any inconvenience caused by the RTE's move would appear to be offset by Daly's decision to return to an event which he almost won at Mount Juliet in 1994.
That was the inaugural year of Murphy's sponsorship and a sparkling line-up also included Ernie Els, fresh from his first US Open triumph at Oakmont.
In the event, Daly thrilled a large attendance with a final round of 65 which equalled the course record set by Nick Faldo the previous year. It was sufficient, however, to give the American only a share of second place with Robert Allenby behind the winner, Bernhard Langer.
Since then, Daly has won a second major championship, the 1995 British Open, and joined Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Johnny Miller as the only players since the second World War to win two major championships before their 30th birthday.
His enduring appeal was evident in the recent World Cup in New Zealand, where the local media considered him to be the main attraction despite the presence of Faldo and Colin Montgomerie. And though he had not decided about a return to the Irish Open at that stage, he talked affectionately about his Mount Juliet experience.
"Tell Ronan Collins I was asking for him," he instructed me in a reference to the RTE personality who partnered him in the pretournament pro-am on that occasion.
Meanwhile, RTE's decision to discontinue filming the event, reflects the increasing demands on their limited financial resources. "By the time I pay a rights fee to another producer, I hope to have saved about £250,000," said O'Connor. "That would allow me show more live GAA and European Champions' League (soccer) action."
In effect, the arrangements for next July will mirror RTE's established approach to the Smurfit European Open. For that event they take the signal from European Tour Productions, which is owned on a 50-50 basis by the PGA European Tour and Mark McCormack's International Management Group.
"I suppose this could be seen as a break in tradition, the end of an era," added the RTE official. "Either way, it is not a matter for negotiation. Our decision is final."
