‘There's always stuff going on’ — Multiple agendas competing with Trump factor at windy Doonbeg
Pádraig Harrington
Pádraig Harrington clearly has a strong diplomatic bent, and while Donald Trump leaves few indifferent, the Dubliner knows the players will be cocooned in their own little worlds this week.
The political minefield that is any sort of discourse on the 47th President of the United States is something the Dubliner finds himself tiptoeing through on a weekly basis in the US.
And as a golfer who opened Doonbeg before Trump had even started doing The Apprentice, he sees the arrival of the Amgen Irish Open at the venue owned by the President as a positive.
“It is a huge deal, a sitting US President coming in,” Harrington said. “I've met both Bushes. Played golf with Bill Clinton; that was really cool. I've met Obama, obviously, at the White House for St. Patrick's Day. I met President Trump back in the day, before he was President.
“There’s going to be a huge focus. There's a lot of attention, and some of that attention is good and bad attention; there's no doubt about it.
“From a golfer's perspective, President Trump does a really good job on golf courses. It's in good condition. Nice changes, very good course, very enjoyable, very playable.”
Harrington reckons the arrival of the Irish Open in west Clare is huge for local jobs but admits that politically, it’s a different ball game.
“I play my golf in the US, and it's exceptionally complicated in the US, let alone coming over here,” he said. “There are a lot of opinions. My friends will be on both sides of the counter… So it's much easier from a golfing perspective. For Doonbeg, it's going to make this venue a bigger place. The jobs and economy, they are going to do great.
“The political side is certainly a hot potato ….For us, we are very much focused on the golf, sticking to the golf.”
Harrington could not believe that his 31st consecutive Irish Open appearance was a record for any national open hosted by the European Tour.
“So of all opens, the No. 1? Gee, whizz. And I still think I can win it.”
Time stands still for nobody, even Rory McIlroy, who can join Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Nick Faldo and Colin Montgomerie if he holds off two-time champion Jon Rahm and wins his third Irish Open this week.
The last time McIlroy played a competitive event in Co Clare, he was just 14-years old on the winning Ulster team at the 2003 Youths Interprovincials at Lahinch.
He has fond memories of his foursomes partnership with Brian McElhinney and two men who competed with McIlroy: his caddie, Harry Diamond, and West Waterford’s Seamus Power.
Power needs confidence, and this week could help as he battles to break into the top 100 in the FedEx Cup standings after the upcoming Fall Series who will have strong schedules next year.
He knows he’ll need to win a couple of times to have a slim chance of making the Ryder Cup team at Adare Manor.
Luke Donald will gather 16 players there on Monday and while he’s asked to play with Tom McKibbin and Alex Fitzpatrick this week, it’s the Englishman and not the Antrim native who is among the potential rookies invited alongside rising Norwegian star Kristoffer Reitan and Spanish duo Eugenio Chacarra and Angel Ayora.
With LIV in quandary, McKibbin will likely be battling for a Ryder Cup spot in Europe next year, and this week is an opportunity to rack up some qualifying points.
“One of the privileges is I do tend to, most weeks when I'm playing over here, get to choose my pairings,” Donald said. “I think Alex Fitzpatrick, obviously, speaks for itself how well he's done off the back of his win with his brother at Zurich.
“Tom is someone I've played a couple of times with before. Certainly, I think he played quite well a couple of weeks ago at the British Masters. Statistically, I think he's starting to show some improvement. So I'm looking forward to seeing his game as well.”
McKibbin will be looking to add a second DP World Tour win to his resumé.
But for five of the ten Irish players in the field— Cormac Sharvin, Mark Power, Liam Nolan, Max Kennedy and Thomas Higgins — the goal is simply to reach the DP World Tour.
Higgins is making his professional debut, and Sharvin is in action as a reward for winning the Irish PGA.
But Nolan, Kennedy and Power are battling for 15 DP World Tour cards awarded via the second-tier HotelPlanner Tour and they can earn crucial Road to Mallorca points this week.
The field is the strongest on the DP World Tour this year outside the co-sanctioned Genesis Scottish Open and includes eight of the world’s top 50 and 21 of the top 25 on Race to Dubai.
An out-and-back par 70- measuring 6838 yards- it’s short and soft and low scoring is expected.
“If the wind picks up off the ocean, it can start to play very, very difficult,” McIlroy said. “If we get a benign day like today, which I think we probably will for the first couple of days, I think you'll see the scoring could be pretty low.
“There's been a lot of rain over the last few weeks, so you're looking at a pretty soft links course with no wind.
“Any links course is vulnerable whenever you have those conditions, but I think the wind picks up again at the weekend. So looks like you have to push more early on, then maybe hang on the last couple.”
