McManus bringing the stars to Adare for 2026 dream
THE richest charity fourball in Irish golf today represents the next phase of the 2026 Ryder Cup dream for Adare Manor owner JP McManus. Rory McIlroy and Paul McGinley will play Pádraig Harrington and Shane Lowry in a €500,000 charity match. The winners will receive €350,000, with €150,000 for the runners-up. The unique fourball marks the opening of the reconstructed Tom Faziodesign in the leafy Limerick setting. The new-look course measuring 7,509 yards will stage the JP McManus ProAm in 2020, by which time a decision on the venue for the 2026 Ryder Cup should be known. The presence of McIlroy and Harrington, with seven majors between them, and a winning Ryder Cup captain and player in McGinley, is a powerful lobby of intent to the decision makers. It is Ryder Cup Europe, comprised of the PGA European Tour, the PGA of Britain and Ireland, and the PGA of Europe, who will make the call. In its previous guise, Adare Manor, which opened in 1995, staged two Irish Opens, in 2007, won by Harrington, and in 2008. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland’s Michael Hoey had his wife’s dedication to thank for posting an opening 69 in the Hassan Trophy in Morocco. Hoey’s clubs were lost in transit on the way to Rabat, but his wife Bev went the extra mile to ensure he received a replacement set, which he used to good effect at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam. The 39-year-old wrote on Twitter on Wednesday: ‘Today my Mrs flew from Belfast to London, drove to @TitleistEurope picked up clubs, drove to Heathrow, flew Royal air Maroc to Casablanca, picked up more clubs & taxied it to Rabat just So I could play, that’s commitment! Legend.’ A day later, Hoey carded four birdies and a solitary bogey to finish two shots behind clubhouse leaders Bradley Dredge and Alvaro Quiros, with Oliver Fisher part of a five-way tie for third on four under. Defending champion Edoardo Molinari, who defeated Paul Dunne in a play-off 12 months ago, struggled to an opening 75, with his only birdie of the day coming on the 18th. Dunne, who began as favourite following his runners-up finish in the Spanish Open last week, was two under after 12 holes but had to settle for a 73 after a double bogey on the 13th was followed by dropped shots on the next two holes.