Some great memories of Irish Opens won and sometimes lost

ACCORDING to legendary golfer Christy O’Connor Junior, the Irish Open “is more like a festival than a golf tournament”.

O’Connor was winner of the 1975 Irish Open at Woodbrook in Co Limerick and earned the equivalent of a €7,000 first prize cheque from a prize fund of €34,000 for his one-shot victory over Scotland’s Harry Bannerman 35 years ago.

Fast forward to this week where Competitors at the ‘3’ Irish Open at Killarney will be playing for a prize purse of €3m with the winner set to pocket a €500,000 payout.