Dapper Johnno’s contribution will not be forgotten
WITH his bushy hair, and extravagant garb, John O’Leary was easily recognisable on a golf course. And he could play too.
The Dubliner, who passed away yesterday aged 70, was best remembered for winning the 1982 Irish Open at Portmarnock.
It was no fluke either, as O’Leary saw off Maurice Bembridge, Christy O’Connor Snr, Greg Norman and Nick Faldo to win by a stroke and pocket the prize money of €13,000.
It would be 25 years before Padraig Harrington bridged a gap between home winners of the Irish Open and no one was more thrilled for Harrington than O’Leary, who was among the attendance at Adare Manor.
Known to his friends as Johnno, he might also have won the 1978 Irish Open at Portmarnock but Ken Brown held him off down the stretch.
O’Leary was part of the Britain and Irish Ryder Cup team of 1975 beaten 21-11 by the United States in Laurel Valley, Pennsylvania.
While O’Leary lost his four matches, three of them went to the 17th.
Based in London for much of his active pro career, O’Leary’s highest finish in The Open was 13th place in 1979 at Lytham & St Annes.
After winding down on Tour, O’Leary served as a member of the European Tour’s board of directors from 1985 until 2019, and he played a significant role behind the scenes in ensuring The K Club hosted the Ryder Cup in 2006.
What’s often overlooked about O’Leary was his excellent, if brief, amateur record.
Between 1969 and 1970,
O’Leary won the South of Ireland (1970), was runner-up in the Irish Close and the West of Ireland, played for Ireland in the Home Internationals twice, and the European Amateur Team Championships.
He played out of Foxrock, where he became an honorary member after his Irish Open win.
I was fortunate to play with O’Leary in the Irish Open Pro-Am at Portmarnock one year and found him excellent company, on and off the links.
Paul McGinley, like O’Leary a winner of the ‘South’ saluted his fellow Dub. ‘Johnno... always a dedicated follower of fashion and allround great guy.’ Harrington said of his fellow Irish Open champion, ‘He always had a kind word to say and gave you advice without preaching. He was a larger-than-life character whose stories will live on.’
Sam Torrance wrote: ‘So sad to hear of the passing of one of my dearest friends and room-mate for 10 years on tour. RIP my old pal John O’Leary’, while European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley saluted ‘a true ambassador for our sport’.
‘John made a huge contribution to the evolution of the European Tour, firstly as a successful player and then as a long-serving member of the Tour’s Board of Directors.’