Ireland's leading golfers have warmly greeted the news that mobile network, 3 Ireland , is to to title sponsor The 3 Irish Open for the next three years. Here follows what they had to say:
DARREN CLARKE
“Baltray is a really good golf course, one of my favourites. I played a lot there as an amateur and the greens were always in brilliant condition. The Irish Open should always be played on links. We have some of the best courses in the world and we should be utilising them.
“I think we should all be thankful to 3 for coming in board as title sponsors during a very tough financial climate. There are not many new sponsors out there and it is a great credit to 3 that they have given so much support to Irish golf.”
PADRAIG HARRINGTON
"Baltray certainly is one of the most exciting links courses in the country. I expect the tournament there to be a great success. I would put the fifth as one of the best holes in the world. It’s just a superb par three. It is just 175 yards, not a beast of a hole but just a superb golf hole, it really is.
“The seventh is another. The two par threes on the front nine are as good as you will get anywhere. I know the golf course well and I have a lot of memories. I can remember some tough days out there in the East of Ireland Championships.
“"I am very pleased to hear that 3 are sponsoring The Irish Open, I always look forward to playing my national open and hope I can repeat my success of two years ago"
PETER LAWRIE
“This is a wonderful announcement for Irish golf and a great time for a company like 3 to be investing in Irish golf because we have so many great players and great young players like Rory McIlroy and Gareth Maybin coming through as well.
“I think for 3 to come along and put the kind of money they are into Irish golf is good enough for everyone and they should be given a lot of credit for supporting the game in Ireland.
“I think Baltray is, like everyone has been saying, a real hidden gem of a golf course. It is a great course and the par threes there are wonderful: it’s great to be going back to links golf and maybe this could be the start of a ‘Links Swing’ on The European Tour. Wouldn’t it be great to have The Irish, Scottish and British Opens played together on links courses – I think that would attract the world’s best players.”
GRAEME MCDOWELL
“This is fantastic news for The Irish Open and for Irish golf in general. To secure a company like 3 as title sponsor given all the financial doom and gloom that we hear about every day is a great coup for the tournament, and hopefully the Irish people will come out and support the event to make sure that it remains one of the best events on The European Tour.
“There certainly won’t be many better venues on Tour this year than Baltray. It is a pure links course and a venue that I think the players will have a lot of fun playing. It certainly suits myself and the other Irish players to be playing on a links course, and hopefully it can produce an Irish winner again.”
RORY MCILROY
“It is great news that The Irish Open is secure for the next three years and that we have the backing of a dynamic company like 3 to hopefully take the tournament to a new level. I couldn’t think of a nicer place to win than Baltray. It would be fantastic to win The Irish Open there.
“It is a place that I know pretty well from the East of Ireland. But my caddie JP Fitzgerald grew up there and he knows the place like the back of his hand. I’ll have a bit of advantage, I think, with JP on the bag.
“It’s going to be a really good venue for me and while I thought Adare Manor really suited my game, it’s a nice change to play links golf and I know Baltray better than most.”
PAUL MCGINLEY
“I was a Member at County Louth as Junior and I am absolutely delighted that it has gone there. The Irish Open has probably gone from the best inland course in Ireland at Adare Manor to the best links course in Ireland, in my opinion, at Baltray. Given the present economic climate I think the Tour and The Irish Open have done really well to get such a strong sponsor in 3 as well.
“I really have great memories of playing there and I think that my performance there three years ago was what propelled me onto the Ryder Cup Team. I finished fifth there and that was the catalyst for a great run that got me onto the Team. I won the Irish PGA there as well so the memories are all there for me.
“Baltray hits the nail on the head for the spectators from the north and south. We have that new road from Dublin to Belfast and it will encourage great crowds from Dublin and Belfast so it ticks all the boxes as a venue.”
GARY MURPHY
“The Irish Open moving to Baltray is a great move, a great opportunity for the Tour players to play some more links golf and if 2004 is anything to go by then it will be a huge success.
“It’s great news to have a sponsor like 3 on board. They are a bold, innovative company and it is refreshing to see a company like that coming on Tour and supporting The Irish Open. Let’s hope they get the rewards they deserve for supporting the event because there are not many companies like that around at the moment.
“I have got some pretty strong connections with Baltray – I have been living up there since 2001. My wife is from the village and the Members of the golf club have always been fantastic with me: let’s hope I can do them a bit of justice when the tournament comes around!
“Everything is there for the tournament to be a success: a unique links venue, a great tournament, a great prize fund and a very strong sponsor.”
