ADARE MANOR OWNER JP McManus hailed Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy’s character amid a spiteful New York atmosphere as the Ryder Cup was officially handed over to his venue.
The Limerick venue will host the centenary Ryder Cup in 2027, and McManus was present at Bethpage Black this morning for the official handover of the competition. McManus has also been following Lowry and McIlroy’s matches from inside the ropes this week, and so heard the abuse thrown at both players by the raucous crowd.
“It was a great win”, McManus told The 42. “They’re great ambassadors for the game. We’re all very, very proud of them at home. They were very good. They behaved great. They handled it very, very well. They are difficult times but they were difficult for our lads and they were difficult for the Americans as well because the American players out there, they weren’t happy with that either. It’s hard to lay fault with America because of the behaviour of just a few.”
McManus was keen to stress that the abuse was thrown by a minority among the crowd.
“You know you get a very few, small minority of them that are causing problems”, said McManus. “It’s not fair to tarnish them all the same. Since I’ve come here a week ago the experience has been nothing short of special, memorable. We’ll try and do the same for the Americans when they come to visit us in two years’ time.”
The hosting of the event in Adare marks the tournament’s first return to Ireland since the K Club hosted in 2006.
“We had a great result in the K Club. The weather wasn’t great! But in spite of that I think everyone had a good time. We’d like a nice week of weather and I’m sure it will be a great week.
“This wouldn’t have happened without the government and without the support of so many other people. There was enthusiasm to get it to Adare.”
Sports minister Patrick O’Donovan spoke at today’s handover, during which he thanked the McManus family on behalf of the Irish government and the Irish people.
