Planes, trains and automobiles...

THE 40,000 people who thronged the Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Resort course yesterday and helped to cause massive tailbacks on the roads leading to the Co Limerick village scarcely appreciated the lengths to which JP McManus and his committee had gone to ensure the safe and timely arrival of the star names.

A party of 78 including the players, families and caddies travelled by specially chartered aircraft after the finish of the AT&T National tournament in Pennsylvania. They left Philadelphia airport at approximately 9pm local time (2am Irish) and arrived at Shannon Airport around 9am yesterday.

2006 US Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman and Fred Funk, who had competed in a Champions Tour event in Montreal on Sunday, made their way to Philadelphia in time to catch the flight.