Sunshine, Rory, Davy, and ‘some Italian fella’ at Irish Open

For the golfing agnostic, it’s easy at Fota to spot the pros from the amateurs — the paid guys have the best tans.

Fota Island was more akin to the Caribbean than Cork for the pro-am in advance of the Irish Open golf tournament, as temperatures soared to the high 20s.

For the pros globetrotting week-in, week-out, this was probably a bit nippy but for suffering Corkonians it was hard work.

While most of the day was a gentle mix of pros signing autographs for what seemed to be the largest collection of schoolchildren on the planet, the real buzz came when Rory McIlroy made his arrival, with his big news — that he had got his golf clubs! Oh, he also mentioned something about declaring for Ireland in the Olympics which means we might have another medal shot for Brazil in 2016.

But, more importantly, did he get his clubs back? “I did! They arrived this morning. They got in at 7 o’clock... and I got them couriered down here, so I have been reunited with them, which is good,” he said.

The other big news Rory had was he had decided to represent Ireland in the Olympics in 2016 which drew a round of applause for the gathered media.

“I have been thinking about it a lot. I don’t know if it is because the World Cup is in Brazil and I was thinking a couple of years down the line. I was thinking about all the times I have played for Ireland as a boy and everything. For me, it is the right decision to play for Ireland,” he said.

Rory said that although the decision took quite a while, it was the opinion of other people he worried about the most.

“[I was] more worried about what other people would think rather than, you know, me. But you have got to do what is right for yourself and what you feel comfortable with. Ultimately, that was the decision I made.”

As for the amateurs, there was a few nifty ones knocking about. Probably the least popular man down ‘these parts’— Clare hurling manager Davy Fitzgerald — had to block out quite a few “up the Rebels” chants off the tee.

No surprise that he’s a pretty handy golfer — playing off a handicap of one. “That’s my official handicap but I wouldn’t say I play [that well] all the time. I have played here a few times and it’s an unbelievable course, absolutely fantastic.”

Davy’s playing partner Shane Lowry is also a fan of Fota. While he may have doled out some advice on the golf course, the Offaly man joked that he was keeping quiet about hurling.

“I wouldn’t dream of giving him any advice. But I will be looking at the qualifiers’ draw to see who Offaly gets. I hope it won’t be Clare,” he said.

Ireland football star Stephen Hunt was just drawing breath after his round with Simon Khan before he was asked about that most non-golf of subjects — the World Cup. “It’s been very entertaining. I fancy Argentina myself but there’s a long way to go. I wasn’t surprised Portugal got beaten. But I still fancy them to get out of that group,” he said.

Down at the driving range, a gaggle of school kids from Shanbally National School were trying to get anyone hitting a golf ball to sign their baseball hats. Lucky for them Matteo Manassero, the youngest European Tour winner in history, was happy to oblige. Not that any of them knew who he was. “Some Italian fella,” said one lad squinting at the scrawl on his cap.

If your name is not Rory, Graeme, Shane, or Pádraig around here, no one seems to care.