Ireland’s adopted genius

RAY McMANUS doesn’t dispute Seve Ballesteros and himself once exchanged some swords on Portmarnock GC but suggests the tale might have been embellished.

The story goes that during one of the Irish Opens at the Dublin venue in the mid ‘80s a camera was clicked during the Spaniard’s backswing and he lost the rag with McManus. But McManus, clearly not awe-struck by the world’s greatest golfer at the time, gave back as good as he got.

“I’ve heard those stories about a golfer of some repute and myself,” laughed McManus, the founder of sports photography agency Sportsfile. “I’ve been told he asked me to stay quiet and I told him to carry on with his golf. It might have been a little exaggerated.”