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IRISH OPENMay 20, 2007John O'LearyADARE, IRELAND RODDY WILLIAMS: Twenty-five years since you won at Portmarnock and £13,000, times have changed a bit since then. JOHN O'LEARY: Well, I certainly spent the £13,000, that's for sure. No, it's a remarkable change in the game. We were just talking last night about the situations, the year I played in the Ryder Cup with '75 with Eamonn Darcy and Christy O'Connor, Jr. that we all felt in those days that we had reached a milestone by being a successful Irish touring player and you had actually made the Ryder Cup Team. Of course since then, the bar has been lifted so much by the players, and particularly with Padraig and Paul and Darren where it's not just a question of making the Ryder Cup Team; it's about winning Ryder Cups. So it has remained a very strange anomaly that with the players have lifted the bar since my times, yet this gap, this void, still appears. Everybody is very hopeful that that's going to be closed today because I think it would be very appropriate for this great championship that Europe's No. 1 should be the first Irish player to get a win since then. So there's a lot of expectation today and I hope it's going to be a great party tonight. Q. Has part of you said I would like to be the last Irish Open winner or do you want someone else to win it? JOHN O'LEARY: I personally would be delighted if Padraig won today. I've had my time and they were very special times. For the people who have made this great golfing country, they deserve a day out, it shouldn't be 25 years since. Q. Talk us through you memories of the final round when you won? JOHN O'LEARY: Personally, I really -- I was probably a better player in the late 70s than I was in the early 80s. I was one of the favourites to win in 1978, and I led all the way until the last two holes. I was actually leading playing the 17th hole. And two very significant putts by Ken Brown, plus an error by myself on the last hole meant that I was runner-up. And when the chance came again in '82, it was one of enormous relief really, having had such a wonderful opportunity in '78, and so it was one of huge relief because I had an enormous chance to win in '78 and didn't take it. Q. Can you recount the crowds and atmosphere in the build up to the final round, as Padraig will be experiencing now? JOHN O'LEARY: Well, I was brought up by beautiful parents in Black Rock. I always played at home in Black Rock with my parents, and I can remember driving to the golf course with my mother and getting to the bridge by Royal Dublin Golf Club, and the crowds were so big we had to get a police escort into the grounds the last six or seven miles. I remember afterwards, my mother recalling that I never opened my mouth from the time I got into the house, when I left the house in Black Rock until actually getting out of the car. Q. Was there a weight of expectation on you? JOHN O'LEARY: Particularly after '78, because in '78 I was one of the favourites. We had top American players playing. I knew that it was probably not necessarily the last chance, but one of the last chances to do it. Q. What was that error on the last? JOHN O'LEARY: I hit a good drive up the right corner at Portmarnock. It had broken right, I just got the corner of the right -- the three big traps on the right-hand side, and I was left with a - do I wedge it out or do I go for the green? And I felt I couldn't get any more than a 7-iron at it, which I felt would get me on to the front of the green. The pin was on the back right. And it pinched on the top of the bank and spun back down the slope, and I was faced with a chip the whole length of the green up to the right corner. And I hit a terrible shot, 35 feet short of the hole. The balls were beside each other, he was there in three and he holed the putt, having done the same on 17. Q. Can you explain why the Irish Open has exerted more pressure on players than the Smurfit European Open? JOHN O'LEARY: It was very interesting Padraig saying this week that it was a fifth major to him. I can vividly remember it, the significance of the event. It was that and the PGA Championship at Wentworth, were clearly the two events that had a different status outside of the Open Championship; the whole years was earmarked towards. Even in those days, you couldn't get to play in America, it was a closed shop, never mind playing in another American major. So it was the Open Championship followed by PGA Championship and Irish Open in equal order. Probably that's to do with the people. The people, the way they respond to the event is extraordinary. Q. What would it mean for Padraig to win this to give the event the boost it needs? JOHN O'LEARY: I think it's usually significant if it all goes right today because you're looking at the No. 1 player in Europe, Irish, winning the Irish Open. Very, very significant indeed. And this fantastic venue with another two years here, at least another two years, I think it will be a tremendous boost for the tournament. If I could just go out about what's happened with the tour since 1982 is that the rest of the world has grown up. And if you take in '75 when the Scandinavian Open started, it was half a dozen people and that was 100,000 people attend a tournament venue. So golf has flourished in the rest of the word. In those days, we take Ireland and Scotland and that, because the stature up here and the bar has been lifted everywhere else to join them. And as you see in America, Tiger can't play everywhere and players can't play everywhere. So the events have to make every special effort because these other tournaments have lifted. There are a couple of other tournaments in Germany that are absolutely outstanding, as well. Q. Equipment has changed a lot, can you comment on the changes and also the growth of the game in Ireland? JOHN O'LEARY: Well, the equipment issue, the playoff at the Irish Open, Portmarnock between Michael Campbell and -- sorry, Björn and Hedblom, correct, the conditions were identical to the day in '82 when I was playing the last hole. The only difference, when I played, nice breeze coming into you and the sun was shining. When they played that playoff, there was a nice breeze, but the sun wasn't shining, so it should have been five yards longer maybe wind. I hit a driver and 2-iron to the last green and Michael Campbell hit a drive and I'm not sure whether it was a wedge or a 9-iron. And those bunkers that caught me in '78 were not in play from off the tee. That's in 25 years, 23 years it was. Sorry, your second question was? Q. Growth of the game in Ireland? JOHN O'LEARY: Ireland they have always been very good encouraging young people and Ireland was very much indeed of -- what's been produced is just mind blowing in terms of quality but there's also been facilities where without the expense have been created, as well. Q. Worse case scenario and after this contract expires and this event could be in some difficulty would be a sad day for Irish golf? JOHN O'LEARY: There's some people behind this tournament that I think -- after this tournament's contract is finished that it will be an increased and extended contract. There are some very serious people that have supported not just the Irish Open, but many other great courses in this country, and I think you can take it that those people will never see this tournament die. Q. What will be going through Harrington's head? JOHN O'LEARY: Well, I think first of all he's got a better head than I have in the sense that he's achieved so much more as Europe's No. 1. It won't be easy for him, particularly the period before he gets through the first hole. But his game seems very tight and under control, and yesterday he seemed very comfortable once he got on the golf course and once he got going. I think the first putt he makes of any significance will be the biggest factor. Q. What needs to be done for the Irish Open to be back as it was in your heyday? JOHN O'LEARY: At times during the late 70s, early 80s, it was the highlight of the sporting summer is the Irish Open and PGA. Players like Tom Kite, Hubert Green, Ben Crenshaw Masters Champion, when those players actually came, remember in those days that the growth of the game across the other countries in Europe wasn't there. Really it's the other countries have grown as much as anything else. Q. Is prize money the main factor? JOHN O'LEARY: I don't really. I think the game has moved almost beyond that. I think the interesting question as to why do players play in certain places, I think you should ask the players that. I think there's a good story in that: What's your criteria to where you play and maybe ask some players who were not here that question. Because I made a point this morning, I was up early as I wanted to be, and I spoke with quite a few of the players, you know, because we've got a very special place here, Adare Manor, and a very special person in Tom Kane who wants this tournament to be the best tournament it can be. And in terms of the golf course, players, they were reluctant to say lighten the rough a bit or should it be another five yards -- the fairways could have been three to five yards wider might have helped -- sorry. Not might have helped, but it's something to look at going forward. The players that are here had a special time. They have enjoyed playing the very difficult golf course. And I think if you look at what Luke Donald, the comments he made a couple of weeks ago and said, you know, that the courses in America, the pin positions, Europe could do an improving on that. Well, you certainly have that here in week. You have the golf course. You have the difficult pins. You have everything here. I'm sure that in terms of if you're looking for next year, I'm sure there will be a significant upturn in the number of players in the Top-50, Top-100 in the world here. Q. What clubs did you use when you won, old persimmon heads? JOHN O'LEARY: No -- yes, yes, there was, sorry. I was using a Persimmon head and straightforward Mizuno blades. Q. and balata balls JOHN O'LEARY: All balata, yes. They were treasured in those days. Q. You picked up £13,000, was that a significant sum in those days? JOHN O'LEARY: It was unbelievable, somebody was asking me the other day, why did I leave Dublin and go and live in Richmond. When I started to travel, summer of '72, '71, it used to cost nearly £180 to fly from Dublin to London and yet I was able to buy a beautiful apartment at the top of Richmond Hill for £16,000. So to put that in perspective, I mean, and we were not playing for a lot of money so, money was tight. So the comparison of it was just extraordinary. And then now, that same apartment is probably worth half a million pounds, and courtesy of Ireland's great entrepreneur, Michael O'Leary (Chief Executive, Ryanair) no relation, you're able to get here for £50 return. The world has changed dramatically since then. Q. Do you in any way resent the rewards the players get now or do they deserve every penny? JOHN O'LEARY: I have been -- when the Tour got its complete independence in '75 that Neil Coles asked me, would I come on the Players Committee, and I got elected onto it. So everything the players are getting today is everything that we worked hard to try and achieve. So I think you should take the answer to the question they get paid too much, but that's what we worked for. Q. Whether Padraig wins or loses today, can you speak about him as a player and a person and about winning a Major? JOHN O'LEARY: Well, you would have to have him right there. They were talking about it today, and over the last few months, as the player mostly that has not won one to win a major now going forward, himself and Sergio probably. As a person, I'd just like to say that last night, I was at the barbeque and it was a joy to see the No. 1 player in Europe, Irish, and he arrived virtually before anybody with his family. He sat in the middle of the room and he was virtually last to leave. And everybody approached him over different things and he was having a good time, and the people were having a good time, as well. That's the way it used to be, and it's lovely to see that continue, and he does it in such a way that's quite extraordinary. We were lucky we were around before the popular press became popular, and I don't mean that as anything other than a bit of fun. And today, there's a little bit more caution on the players' side because the way the world is. And to see him there in those circumstances last night wearing The European Tour hat, you couldn't have a better No. 1 to represent the game off the course, as well. Q. Did you speak to him last night and what did you say? JOHN O'LEARY: Yes, and I left a message for Bob Torrance this morning, Europe's No. 1. Q. What did you say? JOHN O'LEARY: You're Europe's Number One and Just do it, the old Nike one, and Europe's No. 1. RODDY WILLIAMS: Thank you very much John. End of FastScripts |
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