Euro Tour bids to woo Irish Open title sponsor in Killarney
The 2011 tournament, set for Killarney Golf and Fishing Club on July 28-31, was launched in Dublin yesterday with a €1.5 million prize fund and the title “The Irish Open presented by Discover Ireland” after the event was kept alive by Fáilte Ireland and the European Tour following November’s withdrawal of 3 as title sponsor.
The Irish Examiner understands major global financial services group Zurich is in talks to become the tournament’s next title sponsor, adding the event to a golf sponsorship portfolio that already includes two PGA Tour events in America, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and The Farmers’ Insurance Open as well associate sponsorship of European Tour events including the European Masters and Wales Open.
And in a bid to clinch the deal, the Tour is flying in one of the group’s global corporate chief executives to Ireland to play alongside Pádraig Harrington in the Irish Open Pro-Am on the eve of the tournament.
Speaking in Dublin at the 2011 launch, European Tour chief executive George O’Grady hinted that a new sponsor, whom he did not name, was in the works and that they had been close to coming on board for this year but had ran out of time to maximise any deal it might have struck.
“We have somebody who is already in the business and they’re still talking but they felt they couldn’t market it well enough with the speed (required), as this was all happening in February and March this year.
“Meetings are still taking place and one of their chief executives is playing in the Pro-Am. They are a solid international golf sponsorship (brand) with an interest in Ireland.”
The wooing will not stop there, though, with O’Grady intent on showcasing the Irish Open to the widest possible range of global corporate contacts.
“We’ve got some other people who you’ll see playing in the Pro-Am this year with a view to getting behind the tournament and in a business sense bringing their companies in so this is very much making certain the tournament is solid.”
Now it is up to the Irish Open to turn on the charm for its prospective suitors and on that point, O’Grady was confident the European Tour, Fáilte Ireland, Killarney Golf & Fishing Club and the hotels and businesses of Killarney town could deliver.
“There’ll be an Irish way of doing things and we’ll run the tournament very well but we’ve got the whole area now — and additional support from Liebherr Cranes, who own the Europe Hotel and other places — and last year everyone was impressed by every hotel they stayed in the area.
“So the welcome was strong and now, if we bring that warmth to the commercial investors we’ve got coming in, I wouldn’t have any worries from our side.
“No-one’s being complacent but the facilities we’ve got to market are exceptional.”
A move to a non-Irish-specific title sponsor would not only reflect the changing economic climate in Ireland but also the global reach that European Tour events enjoy, with the Irish Open at Killarney last year proving one of the more popular tournaments on the schedule as far as broadcasters in Asia and the United States were concerned.
O’Grady underlined that point when revealing the Tour’s US broadcast rights holders The Golf Channel were sending across five teams of its executives, investors and advertisers to Killarney Golf & Fishing Club to play in the Irish Open Pro-Am.
As for the main event, the prize fund confirmed yesterday of €1.5m will comprise of a €1.25m contribution from Fáilte Ireland, whose chairman Redmond O’Donoghue said yesterday would continue to back the Irish Open if a title sponsor was not found.
“It was Fáilte Ireland’s decision to support this, this year and we would be very supportive again next year if we don’t get a commercial sponsor. But this is a great product. It should be easy-ish to sell, even in these stressful times.
“If we had a little more time, we might have done something this year but we’re bridging the gap this year and I’d be very hopeful that we could move on and we will have a major title sponsor for the following three years to 2014.
“But even if that did not happen we would be as supportive again and I believe the European Tour would be and this will continue to happen here.”
Earlier in the day, the 2007 Irish Open champion Harrington also sounded optimistic for the future of the event, given its recent trying circumstances.
“I’m sure there’s better days ahead in terms of getting a marquee headline sponsor to carry the burden going forward,” Harrington said.
“But from the European Tour’s response and from Tourism Ireland, I think there was always going to be an Irish Open at some point.”
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