The Hangover?

APPEARANCE money had been a major problem for the European Tour for a decade or more by the time the Irish Open first came to Kerry in 1991.

The Tour was still busy figuring out ways of attracting high-class fields for their most prestigious events — as Ireland certainly was at the time — and the guarantee of handsome sums to get them to show up was key.

On the championship’s return to Killarney in 92, the Tour decided to put on a Skins match on the Tuesday. They sought pre-tournament publicity for the event and got it in spades — so when the whole thing went pear-shaped, the press were among those who felt they had been conned and demanded an explanation.