Sometimes life deals the sort of hand that money can’t buy.
Last week Darragh Kinsella (pictured above left)was looking forward eagerly to making the journey from Dublin to Co. Kerry to watch the final day’s play in the Irish Open presented by Discover Ireland.
Instead, Lady Luck intervened and instead the 25 year old management consultant enjoyed the opportunity of a lifetime today by partnering US Open Champion Rory McIlroy and his dad Gerry along with Ireland’s Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, in the Pro-Am competition.
Kinsella was the person drawn at random as the winner of The European Tour’s innovative ‘Play with Rory’ competition open to every person purchasing a ticket for the Irish Open. And the eight handicapper admitted he felt in dreamland as he walked in the footsteps of golf’s newest superstar.
“It was an incredible experience” admitted Kinsella, whose own father, Declan, filled the role of caddie at Killarney. “Rory was a great sport and was good enough to give me some tips and help me with my lines when putting. I can now see why he is such a phenomenal player from the way he hits the ball and it was an absolute pleasure to play with him, his dad and the Taoiseach.”
Kinsella learned of his lottery success last Friday and confessed he “needed a bit of a sit down” when he heard. “I rang my dad who was on holiday abroad and he thought it was a wind up. We are really glad we applied for the tickets to come to the tournament on Sunday and my parents, girlfriend and I will all be back at the weekend rooting for Rory.”
McIlroy, who readily agreed to put up the place in his Pro-Am team to a member of the public, commented: “Darragh was great fun to play with – very relaxed about the whole experience. I think it was a fantastic idea to offer the place to someone who just loves the game and wanted to attend the tournament. Hopefully we can do it again in the future.”
