A handshake with Clinton on the golf course
The passion, the best golf and golfers in the world, a glorious setting, rain, sweat and tears, an emphatic triumph for Europe and, of course, the craic. I was on the front row of the barrier overlooking the 16th green on Sunday — where I had stood for four hours — and shook the hand of Bill Clinton as he walked to the scene of the denouement. A short time later I shook hands with Henrik Stenson, the Swede who, moments earlier and cheekily against the ’script’, had just clinched the Ryder Cup for Europe by 4&3 at the 15th. Then we all watched in the lush silence as Darren Clarke won his match and became the first king of a united Ireland. ‘O-lay, olay, olay, olay, O-lay, olay’ we sang, and then the tears flowed copiously on and off the green.
Last month Colin Montgomerie said, ‘This Ryder Cup will be the biggest sporting . . . no, the biggest event ever staged in Ireland.’ Of course, we all knew that. But sitting at lunch on Friday, in one of the impressive hospitality suites overlooking the 18th green, it all clicked into place. This 36th Ryder Cup morphed into something else — or perhaps I mean something more. It was the biggest, most meticulously planned, strategically executed, state-of-the-art advertisement in the world — for Ireland. ‘The eyes of the world are on County Kildare, ‘ Paul Keeley, marketing director of Fáilte Ireland, told me. ‘Need I say more?’ Well — he did.
The dynamic of its entire economy has therefore changed. The Celtic Tiger is hungry, and if it is to continue to grow and prosper, it must be fed. Paul Keeley, it seems to me, is head chef. ‘We need sustainable development and tourism, especially in the countryside, to maintain jobs there and support local communities.’ Golf brings wealthy tourists who require hotels, restaurants and other leisure facilities — in other words, jobs and money. (American tourists are less inclined these days to make Ireland their first European destination — ‘a demographic change and loosening of Irish ancestral ties in the US’, apparently — and Ireland wants to lure them back. ) With success at the K Club also comes the possibility of Ireland staging other major sporting events — further boosting its economy. And yet another marketing ploy, ‘Ireland: the Food Island’, completes the puzzle — ‘Well, we have to add value to what we produce: excellent organic credentials.’ Paul Keeley, it turns out, does not play golf. A Scot I met at the closing ceremony, however, does. Although not a journalist, he told me that he too was ‘working’ (Ryder Cup, Gleneagles, Scotland 2014). I didn’t need to ask. And I’d be willing to bet that the entire Welsh Tourist Board (Ryder Cup, Celtic Manor, Newport, Wales 2010) were in and around the K Club last week.
Meanwhile, Bertie Ahern is in a spot of bother — a very Irish scandal, it seems to me. The popular Taoiseach has not yet lost the country. There is empathy for his travails at the time of the alleged misdemeanour, 1993, when he was in financial difficulties while separating from his wife Miriam. But there are questions to be answered here, particularly for a serving Minister for Finance at the time. Why did Ahern not seek a commercial loan from a bank rather than accept ‘gifts’ (not liable for tax) from a slew of businessmen and supporters? Why were these ‘gifts’ only revealed when he became Taoiseach in 1997? And why were these recently revealed ‘gifts’ then renamed as ‘repayable loans’ (some of which have been repaid, others not)? Ahern has finally, and reluctantly, spoken on television, saying that he has broken no codes — ‘ethical, tax, legal or otherwise’ — well he would, wouldn’t he? Never mind, Bertie gave a lovely speech at the closing ceremony of the Ryder Cup, so that’s grand.
It’s hard to explain why Samuel Ryder’s is such a compelling and coveted Cup — arguably the secondmost in the world of sport — and why it always lives up to the hype. I think it must have something to do with the obsessive nature of the game itself. The vast majority of fans play golf regularly, so we know from experience how difficult and cruel this game is and, subsequently, how truly spectacular is the talent of the players we watch. It’s something to do with sportsmanship, too, and the twist that team playing gives to this most individualistic sport. Whatever it is, it’s exhilarating — and there was nowhere else on earth to be last Sunday than the K Club, Straffan, County Kildare, Ireland. Just ask Bill Clinton — and Darren Clarke.