Irish Open needs home challenger, says Lowry

Shane Lowry believes it’s crucial an Irishman contends for Irish Open glory at Carton House this weekend and helps create the festival atmosphere to safeguard the tournament’s tenuous future.

Without a title sponsor for the past three years, the European Tour is confident up to 100,000 fans will fill the wide open spaces of the Montgomerie Course this week, justifying €1.5m of public money that has been invested in the tournament via Fáilte Ireland. With Government funding only decided on a year-by-year basis, there is no guarantee that the Irish Open will continue to collect from the goose that lays the golden eggs.

And nobody knows better than Carton House touring professional and 2009 Irish Open champion Lowry the importance of the fans turning out in force.

Lowry said: “I think it is important that one of us is certainly contending at the weekend. If every Irish player makes the cut and has a chance going out on Saturday and Sunday, the crowds will come out in droves. That’s crucial. We definitely need an Irish player up there contending. I know for a fact if I had a chance of winning we’d definitely get a few more thousand from home. I will give it my best shot.”

While last year’s record-breaking staging at Royal Portrush attracted 112,000 fans on tournament days and 130,000 for the week, the European Tour confirmed yesterday pre-tournament sales are ahead of levels achieved in Killarney in 2010 and 2011.

James Finnigan, Commercial Director of the European Tour, said: “Given the excitement around this golf tournament, I’m very much expecting to see a minimum crowd of 80,000 people over the next four days.

“Certainly I’d be disappointed myself if we came to Sunday night and didn’t have at least 100,000 people through the gates at the five days of this event, including the pro-am day, which gives people the chance to see their heroes play with some great celebrity amateurs playing. We’re expecting a very good crowd. We recognise the support we get from the Irish fans and don’t take it for granted.”

The European Tour has splashed out nearly €50,000 on an amphitheatre style, 1,500-seater grandstand at the par-three 17th, complete with bar and Europe’s biggest jumbotron screen.

“In all honesty I’d expect the Irish public to come support this event,” Finnigan said. “It’s their chance to see their own and other European Tour stars they haven’t seen.”