Our team at Killarney Golf and Fishing Club brings you all of the action from behind the scenes at the 3 Irish Open.

Saturday July 31

What’s in a number?

Ross Fisher had the statisticians scrambling for their records yesterday with his superb round of 61. At one point the Englishman seemed destined to post The European Tour’s first 59 – something achieved by Paul Goydos on the US PGA Tour a few weeks ago. You could feel the buzz reverberating around the media centre as Ross sank putt after putt after putt. All the talk was of the magical – almost mythical - number of 59. Could he do it? Well, he certainly had a chance with two putts shaving the holes on the run in.

In his press conference afterwards, Ross said: “I had a chance on 15 from eight feet,  but unfortunately I pulled it.  I think all I wanted to do was give myself chances coming in the last four holes, and I gave myself four good looks at birdie.s  Unfortunately I didn't make them so have to be satisfied with 61.”

Only 13 players (Darren Clarke has achieved it twice) have shot rounds of 60 on The European Tour and Ross almost took that number to 14 but sadly it was not to be. That said, his superb performance remained a flawless display of shot making and putting and moved in right into contention to win the 3 Irish Open.

“It's quite an exclusive club to be a member of.  There are not many that have done it, and I think for me, I was standing on 14 green, waiting for David and Shane to putt there, and it did sort of enter my mind there.

“I thought, if I knock this in, I'll get it to 12 and 10 under for the round and I need two more in the last four.

“Immediately forgot about it and got on with the job at hand which was holing that putt and managed to do that.”


Friday July 30

There’s danger out there

Golf courses can be the most tranquil of places but for a while yesterday it seemed as if Killarney was the accident hotspot of Ireland. Aside from a bevy of players running into trouble on the 18th hole – including Anton Haig and Noh Seung-yul – one of our esteemed media team had the misfortune of being run over by a buggy. Just standing there talking to a fellow member of staff, said Media Official turned round only to see a buggy hurtling towards him at a rate of knots before ploughing straight into him. Of course he claims the buggy came off worse but our friend was left was some rather nasty bruising and, with all the Rules Officials watching on, probably a dint in his dignity too. Moral of the story kids? Take care when driving buggies. Once the shock of that incident had just about worn off, one of the young volunteers manning the scoreboard in the media centre then collapsed due to a combination of the dehydration and asthma. Perhaps the biggest accident of the day, however, was Robert Rock’s disqualification for inverting his scores on the 13th and 14th hole. After such a great start – he shot an opening round 65 – and losing in a play-off to Shane Lowry, an amateur at the time, last year Rocky must feel like the Irish golfing gods are against him.

Thursday July 29

A feeding frenzy

With the sun shining, the course looking in great condition and Ireland’s finest golfers in the field it was always going to be an opening day to remember. More than 17,500 spectators flocked to Killarney and many of them to see Major Champions Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell, who have been paired together for the first two days. By the time the pair and fellow Irishman Damien McGrane finished their round the crowd by the 18th green and recording area had swelled to monstrous proportions. So much so that for our media team it proved somewhat difficult to communicate our instructions to the trio given the sheer volume of fans. The media demand for all three also proved something of a juggling act too, with a hungry pack of TV crews and journalists all eager to speak to them. Of course it’s testament to the interest in golf in this country that both fans and media alike are out in such force to support this event.

Wednesday July 28

A room with a view

Having spent many hours and days over the last few years beavering away in media centres around the world you can sometimes procure a little sense of cabin fever, holed up within the confines of a large tent. Not so this week. The view afforded to us is quite spectacular, with one side of the media centre a window looking over the lake and hills here at Killarney. Step outside and there is even a helipad should our players feel the need to arrive by air for their press conferences. While the golf course and surrounding area is picture postcard, the town of Killarney itself is some place to be.  Bustling with tourists and with enough restaurants and pubs to ensure you could stay for a few months without having to eat in the same place twice. Suffice to say there has been some social exploring done already. All in the name of research for this blog. Obviously.

Toasting a Major Champion

It’s testament to the burgeoning strength of Irish golf at the moment that nearly all of the favourites to capture this week’s 3 Irish Open title hail from the Emerald Isle. Graeme McDowell, Padraig Harrington, Rory McIlroy, Darren Clarke and defending champion Shane Lowry have all popped into the media centre to speak to the assembled press about their chances of making it back-to-back Irish wins. To celebrate the start of this year’s tournament Horizon Sport Management, the team which looks after a number of our Irish players including US Open Champion Graeme McDowell, laid on a barbeque with attendees including GMac, Rory McIlroy and Paul McGinley, as well as many of Ireland’s leading golf writers and some European Tour staff. There actually used to be a trophy for the leading Irish player in the Irish Open and, as Padraig Harrington suggested yesterday, if that was still the case the winner of it this week would probably be in contention for the overall prize too. You can’t help feel he might not be wrong.

A popular attraction

There are some fantastic names in the field this week, many of which have been previously mentioned in this blog, but one of the biggest draws this week seems to be Rory McIlroy’s car. The 21 year old from Holywood drove down to Killarney in his impressive Audio R8 convertible, which is parked in his designated space between the media centre and the clubhouse. Throughout the past two days spectators have been walking up to Rory’s motor and having their picture taken with it. In this town of tourism, Rory’s mode of transport is fast becoming something of an attraction in its own right.