Father-to-be leaves mother of all shots to rival

ONE man dropped his wife off at the maternity ward and returned to play his round of golf, but even he couldn’t upstage mobile phone magnate Denis O’Brien — who had the mother of all chip shots.

The multi-millionaire former owner of ESAT hit the most wayward shot of the day at the JP McManus Pro-Am in Adare, crashing his ball into a chip van off the course, scattering the surrounding crowds and the servers inside the van. No doubt he'll blame it on a bad connection or maybe it was a poor line.

As politicians and pros mixed on the fairways at Adare, ordinary punters got to show their wares too provided they paid €100,000 a team. Some of the richest players in the world have come to Limerick to give not just their money, but also their time. The event is expected to raise more than €30m for charity.