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Harrington hails JP's personal touch
THREE-time Major champion Padraig Harrington believes the personal relationship host JP McManus has with the world's top golfers is the reason the two-day event boasts such a high class field.
The 2005 Pro-Am winner Harrington said it was easy for golf's elite players to accept an invitation to play in the glamour event once they receive a personal invite to compete from Limerick man JP McManus.
Harrington played his opening round in the company of three members of Newcastle West Golf Club Liam O'Sullivan, Brendan Broderick and Shane Gallagher.
A huge gallery followed Harrington and the in-form team of amateurs who represented Pieta House.
The line-up of professionals in Adare this week is the best field to assemble in Europe this year outside of next week's British Open at St. Andrew's.
Harrington, who bids to win a third British Open at the 'Home of Golf', said the relaxed atmosphere at Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Resort play improved golf.
"I love the Pro-Am here," Padraig Harrington enthused.
"The reason 11 of the top 15 in the world rankings are playing in Adare is foremost because of the personal relationship with JP McManus. I don't think anyone under-estimates the work that he himself, personally, has put in over the past five years.
"JP travels to half a dozen tournaments at least a year meeting players.
"At the US Masters he has an open house where numbers of people will come in the evening time to have dinner and just generally have face-to-face contact with players. It's an exceptional amount of work he puts in, travelling the world.
"Once people come face-to-face with JP and know him it's easy for them to accept an invite to the tournament.
"It's been good to me. It's a good couple of days. Everybody seems to enjoy it. It's a very relaxed atmosphere.
"The nice thing is that it's an atmosphere you tend to play better golf in and certainly in 2005 it seemed to kick start a good roll for me.
"The event may be two days for some, but I'm here since Friday.
"It's five days for me.
"I am making sure to get full value this time round. I have been enjoying myself down here for a few days so far," Padraig Harrington said.
Pro-Am host JP McManus presented recently-crowned US Open champion Graeme McDowell with a special glass memento to mark his victory at Pebble Beach last month.
Thirty-year-old McDowell said he was honoured to make his return to competitive golf in the Adare event.
"The presentation was from JP and Noreen," Graeme McDowell explained to Leader Sport.
"JP is a very classy guy. You look at the field assembled for these two days. That says a lot about what we think of JP McManus. He is a special person in the world of golf and it is a real honour to play my first competitive round back since the US Open here.
"I played with Kieran McManus and a couple of good guys. It was good to get back on the golf course and I got a great reception.
"I've signed some autographs, that's for sure!
"An even like this is the perfect way to get back playing. I barely touched a club in two weeks before this. There's no point in denying that.
"I played County Down with Rory (McIlroy), played Portrush once and I played 18 holes at St. Andrew's on Saturday and that's it."
The swash-buckling Rory McIlroy proved a major attraction for golf fans as he played in the company of top horse racing names, Tom Taaffe, Frank Berry and Des Scahill.
Rory McIlroy praised the effort that the Pro-Am organisers had put into the event.
"It's fantastic. To get Tiger (Woods) and such a quality field to play in a two-day Pro-Am, it just goes to show how much influence JP has. The event is fantastic and it raises so much money for charity.
"They have done a great job with the hats this year, making the hat as your ticket. They are going to raise a lot of money for charity that way.
"It's every five years and they make the most of trying to give back to the community around here. What they do is fantastic."
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