O’Meara ‘confident’ of hosting Irish Open again next year

KILLARNEY Golf & Fishing Club officials are keeping their fingers’ crossed that the Irish Open will return to the shores of Lough Leane for a third year in a row in 2012.

Simon Dyson’s one-stroke win over Richard Green brought the curtain down on a second successful year for the event with the European Tour last night announcing a final-day crowd of 23,958 that pushed total attendance past last year’s 81,738 to a new high of 85,179.

That represents a great return for a tournament lacking a title sponsor and with a prize fund 50% down on 2010.