Fans cheer golfing heroes

VANTAGE points were at a premium in Co Kerry as thousands of golf fans lined the fairways to cheer the homegrown heroes who have turned the island into one of the game’s more unlikely superpowers.

Children climbed trees while grandparents set up camp in folding chairs round the greens as the Irish Open in Killarney welcomed British Open champion Darren Clarke and US Open winner Rory McIlroy.

Fellow major champions Graeme McDowell and Padraig Harrington made up the quartet of Irish stars playing in front of the packed galleries on the Killeen course at the Killarney Golf and Fishing Club.