Sponsors want Irish date a week before British Open

IRISH Open sponsors 3 are targeting the week before next year’s British Open at St Andrews as the new date for their championship. It is probably the most coveted week on the calendar.

However, the slot is currently filled by the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond and sponsored by Barclays Bank to the tune of £3 million.

But, like most financial institutions, Barclays have been suffering in the global slump and there has been speculation about their future involvement.

3 raised the prize fund for this year’s Irish Open to €3 million and that’s not a whole lot behind what’s on offer in Scotland. There is little doubt that the Irish sponsor will increase the total purse in 2010, especially if such a plum date become available.

Robert Finnegan, chief executive of 3, is expected to shortly hold talks with George O’Grady, the European Tour boss, and will demand a move to a mid-summer date.

But if the Scottish Open has sponsorship difficulties, the Irish Open has all the credentials.

And that in turn opens up all kinds of exciting possibilities. For years, most of the leading professionals have come here in the week before the Open for the links experience, including legends like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

The JP McManus pro-am is scheduled for the Tuesday and Wednesday of that week.