Clever planning keeps golf in full swing

Englishman Sam Walker teed off alone with only a marker for company as Saturday’s Irish Open action began at 7.50am.

There were plenty of fans at Portstewart Golf Club at that early hour but Sam was not the main attraction.

The Championship Village, an area of stallholders, food concessions and the music stage, was in full swing in anticipation of the final rugby match of the British and Irish Lions tour. The game was being shown live on the big screens and while golf has its sedate moments interjected with raucous applause and cheers, rugby matches are full on from the moment the first whistle blows.