20th/21st July
Saturday/Rāhoroi
Sunday/Rātapu
We followed the English "Woodies", Fleetwood and Westwood, on the 3rd day. Here they are on the 7th.
Schauffele with a miraculous shot from the rough into the green on the 10th.
Ricky Fowler - we followed him as he shot the 2nd best final nine on the 3rd day.
We still kept an eye on Foxy.
Our ticket for the final day.
On the final day, Sunday, we watched the last 7 or 8 pairs come in on the 3rd hole, a par 3. Here is the final pair, Lowry and Fleetwood.
And then on the 18th, the winner is ... Shane Lowry. Lowry was a legend in winning - everyone loves the Irish down to earth, likeable boy winning. (Thank you to the person in the crowd who took this photo.)
At the presentation ...
The people in blue are the volunteers who he did not forget to acknowledge.
Here they are around the 18th.
Here were three guys as proud as us to be there.
We had a bit of a wait getting out of the gate at the end, and it was raining. They will fix that they said for 2024, which is when they hope to have it here again. We didn't mind this wait too much given everything else was so grand (the Irish use this word all the time).
Then the link below is Shane partying in Dublin later that night. He went with mates in two or three limousines from Portrush to Dublin, leaving after 9pm and would have got to Dublin after midnight. This was some time after that . . . it's brilliant!
This is the lyrics of the song if you want to sing along - it's an Irish folk song about the potato famine that is sung in support of many of their sporting teams. Seeing Lowry get the Claret Jug (now in Ireland renamed the Clara Jug, after the town he grew up in), reading all the papers, watching TV and being there makes me cry - a tournament to remember.
The Fields of Athenry lyrics:
By a lonely prison wall
I heard a young girl calling
Michael they are taking you away
For you stole Trevelyans corn
So the young might see the morn
Now a prison ship lay waiting in the bay
Chorus:
Low lie the fields of Athenry
Where once we watched the small free birds fly
Our love was on the wing
We had Dreams and songs to sing
It's so lonely round the fields of Athenry
By a lonely prison wall
I heard a young man calling
Nothing matters Mary when you're free
Against the famine and the crown
I rebelled they cut me down
Now you must raise our child with dignity
Chorus
By a lonely harbour wall
She watched the last star falling
As the prison ship sailed out against the sky
For she lives to hope and pray
For her love in Botany bay
It's so lonely around the fields of Athenry
Song Details from Wikipedia....
Composer: Pete St. John, 1970's.
Brief: It tells the story of Michael who lives near County Galway. During the Great Irish Famine, Michael stole corn to feed his starving family. He was caught and sentenced to a term in Botany Bay which is situated in Sydney, Australia, far far-away from home. His wife is left to care for the children, living in hope and praying for her 'love', as she feels the loneliness 'round the Fields Of Athenry...
It has been recorded by many artists over the years, and has been used in several movies along with a number of sporting clubs that have also adopted the song. The song was regularly heard from on the terraces in the late 1980s from supporters of the Galway county hurling team. The song was adopted by Republic of Ireland national football team supporters during the 1990 World Cup and subsequently by Celtic supporters in the early 1990s. (Celtic Football Club in Glasgow has a large following in Ireland and among people in Scotland of Irish descent.[10] During the Great Famine in Ireland during the 1840s, 100,000 Irish famine victims emigrated to Glasgow.) The song is also associated with the Connacht, Munster, London Irish and Ireland rugby union teams. It's also seen by many as Galway's county song, sung at the various GAA matches when the county is playing.
And now The Open at Portrush.
Ko au te hahaupōro. Ko te hahaupōro ko au.
(I am the golf and the golf is me.)