McGinley a passionate supporter of Irish Open
While there is a very strong field, most of the big name US-based golfers have stayed away, which remains an ongoing disappointment for all associated with the championship.
James Finnigan, the commercial director, said in yesterday’s Irish Examiner that “Ireland Inc. needs to get more behind its national open. I am very surprised we have failed to get a title sponsor.”
McGinley doesn’t disagree with these views but also fully understands the difficulties facing Finnigan and his team.
“We all know Ireland has gone through a tough economic time and trying to find a title sponsor has been very difficult,” he says.
“Fortunately, the governments, both north and south see the big picture, which is the importance of golf to the tourism industry, so they have stepped up to the plate. As players, we are very appreciative of that. And I think they also understand that they got the most exciting player in the world in Rory McIlroy.
“Everybody is talking about him and Jordan Spieth. They are very much the two icons at the moment in world golf. We really need to have an Irish Open to showcase Rory. In terms of prize money, it’s very decent and healthy by standards on the European Tour. Okay, if you want to compare it to the PGA Tour, it’s not, but by European standards, it is.”
McGinley and the Irish Open have come a long way since the day in 1975 when he gazed in wonderment as he saw Christy O’Connor Senior make the papal sign as he was swept away from Woodbrook in a helicopter.
It may be a familiar mode of transport today for the game’s multimillionaires but to the then 10-year-old Dubliner “it looked like a spaceship”.
McGinley was brought to the championship — held in those days at Woodbrook and Portmarnock — by his father Michael, and it all stoked his ambition to eventually become one of the game’s finest exponents.
He has achieved that aim in no small measure but one glaring omission from his CV is an Irish Open title. Surely, at the age of 47, he could hardly rectify that situation here at Fota this week. Could he?
“Of course I could be a contender,” he insists. “I’ve had a decent few tournaments and came 16th against a very strong field in Abu Dhabi and was only six shots off the winning score in the Spanish Open four weeks ago. Let’s be honest, I’m in the twilight of my career. We all know that. Not many golfers play their best golf at 47 years of age and it looks like I’m no different. Time catches up and you move on.
“Nevertheless, I’m very fortunate I have the Ryder Cup captaincy, which I’m really enjoying. It’s a real challenge. In Europe, we like to have the captain sill competitive and still playing on tour. I’ve been drawn with a lot of the potential team over the last 12 months and that’s been very beneficial for me. You learn a lot when you stand inside the ropes with them.”
Since the championship was revived in 1975 at Woodbrook, it was staged in the greater Dublin area up to 1990, when the move was made to Killarney. It has moved around the country ever since and McGinley is an enthusiastic supporter of this strategy.
“The more courses that are showcased around the world and live on the Golf Channel in America the better,” he stressed. “This is very important to the Irish economy. It’s not just about one area around Dublin or one area in the north.
“It’s nice to come to Cork, maybe one day we’ll go to the west of Ireland. I’d like that. But I also understand the economic constraints and commercialism have to be involved in terms of hotels and access and airport and corporate sponsorship and corporate entertainment. All of that goes into the mix. So it’s not a case of ‘that’s a good golf course, let’s go there’. There’s a lot more involved.”
McGinley has happy memories of Fota, having captured the first of his four Irish PGA Championships there in 1997. He has played the course many times since and is extremely happy with what he has heard from the players who arrived early in the week, and what he discovered for himself during the few holes he squeezed in between his many other duties yesterday.
“Yeah,” he observed ruefullly, “balancing the playing with the captaincy is difficult. There are so many things going on and so many things going on in your head. The big job I have at the moment is communicating with the players and the best way to do that is having five minutes with them here and there, while not putting too much focus on September.
“It’s important for them to focus on their own games and playing well in Majors.
“I am relishing the next 100 days. There’s pressure and huge expectation but I’m looking forward to it and pitting my wits against Tom Watson. Some players are pretty much guaranteed on the team at this stage and my focus now is on form, with a view to possibly who the three picks may be. The two vice-captains in addition to Des Smyth and Sam Torrance will be announced once I have decided on the picks.”
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