Sponsors whither thee? I have just witnessed a gripping Irish Open, an event that is - amazingly - lacking a title sponsor. How can this be? It defies comprehension that no one in the corporate world thinks it's worth supporting in a big way. Over 100,000 people came through the gates over five days (there were nearly 7,000 for the Pro-Am alone), which was more than the attendance at the European Tour’s flagship event, the PGA Championship at Wentworth. Beautiful pictures of Fota Island Resort were beamed all around the world, with many of Europe's top names contending. It's something that the European Tour's new chairman, David Williams, must surely be giving urgent attention to. By all accounts he's a new broom who is already raising a lot of dust. Hopefully when it settles the larder won't just be a lot cleaner, but rather better stocked too!
The Irish Open was yet another episode in a long saga of dashed hopes for the locals. Save for a stone-cold putter, Graeme McDowell might well have snatched the glassware from Mikko Ilonen's grasp. The big disappointment though was that Rory McIlroy, the 2011 Hong Kong Open champion, missed the cut again. In the second round he made six birdies and an eagle for a two-under 69. In his post round interview he appeared to hint that he might have to review the way he plays. Ask anyone who knows him well and they will tell you that he's a bull-headed young man who does things his own way. His colleagues are amazed at his course management, or lack of it. So far, it's that gung-ho approach that's brought him considerable success and fortune. He's not a Tiger Woods and never will be, but I just detect that there's a growing frustration within himself at his inability to "get it round" when all is not hunky dory. Under full sail he's an incredibly exciting player to watch. When battered by the raging storm the canvas gets a little tattered and there's a real sense that he's not doing himself or his enormous talent full justice. He was apparently pretty exhausted coming into the tournament and probably wouldn't have played that week had it not been his home Open. He left to lick his wounds and ensure that he's in prime condition to tackle Royal Liverpool where the Open Championship returns eight years after Tiger's third and last Open win.
Tiger's course management that week was exceptional in very dry, burnt, bouncy conditions, using his driver just once. My main memory apart from that is of Sergio Garcia's canary-yellow outfit on Sunday, when it seemed he might be the man to challenge the American. He may as well have walked round with a white flag. But he's in top form again. Maybe he will finally get the major his talent deserves.
As has been the case for the last few years, I shall be glued to the action all day long from the "comfort" of my little box in the TV compound, linking the output that goes around the world. For the most part you will hear the BBC commentary team, with all the wit and wisdom of Peter Alliss, Ken Brown, Sam Torrance et al. But when they go to domestic coverage (with interviews and features) that's where yours truly has to leap in with a seamless flow of fascinating information to enrich and entertain the rest of the world. It requires skill, knowledge and considerable concentration … at least that's what I tell my paymasters! I have a little orange button that controls who and what "The World" hears. What power!
At the time of writing Tiger is about to make his reappearance after an enforced hibernation and is obviously intent on "defending" his Hoylake title. It's a huge ask for him to come back and win another major so soon after complex surgery. The news that there's a Tiger on the prowl no longer sends mind-numbing fear and trepidation through the ranks and personally my money will not be on him. Henrik Stenson must surely take the winner's cheque sooner or later, although in recent weeks he has shown an alarming tendency to miss shortish putts under the cosh on Sunday, an area where traditionally he's been very strong. Mikko Ilonen won the Amateur Championship at Hoylake in 2000 and was tied 16th at The Open there last time. Might he repeat Padraig Harrington's Irish Open/Open double of 2007? A few weeks out, it seems to be a remarkably “open” Open.
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