For Fota’s infantry, first day reviews are universally positive

MUCH like the pacesetter from Finland, the Fota Island infantry dodged most of the first- round land-mines strewn around the Deerpark layout yesterday.

Good judges of these tally things indicated the official day one attendance of just over 16,000 seemed conservative. But once the 500 or so marshals had got their bearings, they sprinkled a refined, if relaxed, sense of control to the proceedings.

First-round leader Mikko Illonen bogeyed his first hole and the early portents for the course marshals, controlling the space invaders around Rory McIlroy, were equally inauspicious. As the Holywood star — shouldn’t we be adding an extra L now? — unleashed hell down the valley of the 10th fairway before 8am yesterday, there was a gush of bodies that left the startled marshals floundering.