Joe Molloy was joined by Dermot Gilleece and Paul Kimmage on the Sunday Paper Review to reflect on the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open as the panel discussed how successful the week has been at Ballyliffin.
Russell Knox won the Irish Open by way of a play-off against Ryan Fox after the pair finished with a score of 14 under par.
Knox triumphed thanks to a birdie putt on the 73rd hole after Jorge Campillo and Erik van Rooyen had earlier fallen out of contention before the play-off.
And Dermot Gilleece of The Irish Times believes golf fans should have no gripes with the standard of play they witnessed in Donegal.
“I’m inclined to think that this is about as good as it gets,” Gilleece said.
“In terms of world ranking points this is the biggest tournament in the world this weekend. It wouldn’t carry as much money as the corresponding event in the USA.
“We’ve Jon Rahm back defending the title, we’ve Rory McIlroy who’s world number six – what more do we want?
“We had a couple of really good years when Rory really pushed out the boat at Royal County Down. We had a very strong field at the K Club and we had a good field last year.
“There are no appearance fees that I’m aware of and that’s the way it is. You have to reintroduce appearance fees if you want to change that.
“It’s not an ideal week – we know that – the ideal week is next week at the Scottish Open which is a lead up to the Open championship.
“It’s difficult logistically for Americans, I imagine, to come over this week – take a break – it doesn’t make an awful lot of sense.
“It’s still a lot better than playing it in May with everything that has involved in recent years.”
Gilleece also touched on how local support for the event will ensure the tournament is fondly remembered by fans.
“The European Tour have indicated that this has been the easiest Irish Open that they’ve staged in recent years,” Gilleece added.
“Essentially because of the way the locals have embraced it. At club level, council level, the Gardai – the PSNI on the other side of the border have been involved as well.
“Everybody has just rowed in behind it to make it a memorable event. It’s certainly one I’ll remember. It’s just been lovely.”
James Hopper
