McManus: Tiger’s committed to Adare

JP McMANUS last night re-affirmed his view that Tiger Woods would be in the field for the fifth renewal of his invitational pro-am at Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Resort in July.

Woods gave a commitment when informed that the pro-am would again take place in 2010 and while much has changed in Woods’ life in the meantime, his friendship with McManus again manifested itself when they met up socially during the recent Masters tournament at Augusta.

Yesterday’s announcement that the 2007 US Open and 2009 Masters champion Angel Cabrera of Argentina was joining a stellar field for this year’s tournament brought to five the number of major winners headed for Adare in July.

In addition to Woods and Cabrera, those to have also committed themselves are Ernie Els and Jim Furyk and Ireland’s Pádraig Harrington.

Harrington and McManus attended the Punchestown races on Wednesday evening before making their way to Co Limerick and were at Adare bright and early yesterday to greet the guests arriving for the tournament media day.

Once the press had departed the first tee, the duo flew by helicopter back to Punchestown for a spell before returning to Adare.

“We’re delighted that Angel and Nick have agreed to play the pro-am,” said McManus. “Angel is a truly global player who has thrilled fans the world over while Nick is a truly exciting player who brings a freshness to the sport.”

This year, Harrington will defend his title against the four other major champions already mentioned along with other stars of the game including European number one Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Paul Casey, Camilo Villegas, Anthony Kim, Robert Allenby, Henrik Stenson and Luke Donald.