Golf latest; Irish Open in dire need of title sponsor
Irish Open will be staged at the Killarney Golf and Fishing Club, but the purse of the event has not been decided yet.
The dates of the tournament have been finalised and they have been announced as July 28-31 of the next year. However, the issue which requires attention is that of sponsors. Fáilte Ireland has signed a contract as one of the major sponsors with the European
Tour and the news has been verified by Redmond O'Donoghue, chairperson of the association. Fáilte is a tourism authority in Ireland and is responsible for all the leisure and entertainment activities that take place in the region.
European Tour lost the sponsors for the event after this year’s tournament. The reason for the loss was not disclosed, but 3, a mobile company pulled out its name from further sponsorships. Failte Ireland stepped in and convinced the officials that with
a star stellar field, finding other sponsors will not be a problem.
Failte is right, as big guns of Ireland like Padraig Harrington, Graeme McDowell, and Rory McIlroy will be teeing off with their massive fan following. Their appearances will act as a magnet for other veterans and hence will capture sponsors.
Redmond O'Donoghue addressed a press conference on Tuesday and said, "We are delighted to once again be involved in this great event and to commit to being a major sponsor to ensure its continued success. The 2010 tournament saw a revival of the event to
its former status and provided a fantastic opportunity to showcase Ireland to an audience of 394 million homes worldwide. The event attracted the best field seen for many years with 25 of Europe's top 50 players participating and some 82,000 spectators came
to Killarney Golf and Fishing Club over the four days - the second highest attendance for a European Tour event after their flagship BMW PGA Championship."
The field might be strong, but without massive prize money, nothing can be said with certainty. This year’s winner’ share was €3 million sponsored by 3, who pulled out its’ financial assistance last month.
Just like four Majors and WGC events, the Irish Open is perceived as the sixth most prestigious tournament on the circuit in context of purse. This is why it is facing sponsorship challenges. Ironically, despite of being a star-stellar cast, the event has
been part of financial depravity. In 2007, the €2.5 million event had no title sponsor when it was staged at Adare Manor. The area remained vacant for the following year, while Richard Finch banked on the grand sum of €416,660.
“I have a level of prize money in my head, and I have no intention, on behalf of the game, to lose money. But hopefully, we will be seeing a title sponsor very soon,” said George O’Grady, the European Tour chief executive. The official added that purse
for the mega event will be confirmed on later dates, but the European Tour is in a process of finalizing the major sponsor by the start of February 21.
However, chances are that a drop in purse will be witnessed. O’Grady hinted that slight decrease is expected and thereby, the winner’ share will also be affected. For instance, if the purse comes down by one third, then the winner will be picking up a cheque
of €333,330 instead of €500,000, which Ross Fisher banked on in August.
The hammer has been dropped on the venue for the Irish Open, which has been decided as the Killarney Golf and Fishing Club, but the Tour is facing trouble in finding a title sponsor. The reason behind such percussion can be the present scenario of Irish
golf, which is riding on the dying wave of economy.
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