The problem is when you play a lot, you think you’re better than you really are
A talented amateur boxer and footballer, Johnny Murtagh went on to become one of Ireland’s most successful flat racing jockeys. Now a trainer, he loves his golf and remains fascinated bywhatmakesthe greats tick, from Messi, Roy Keane and Michael Jordan t
1. How’s your golf? Playing much?
I started to play in Dubai when I was about 23 or 24 and played quite a lot because I had plenty of time to put into it. I love it. Or at least, I love playing in my shorts and a t-shirt. So now that I am training, it’s not easy to find the time.
2. Where do you play?
Well, it’s a lovely thing. I was lucky enough to be awarded honorary membership of Headfort Golf Club in Kells. So that’s my club now. And it’s a wonderful club.
3. Do you have any golfing ambitions now that you are retired from riding?
I’d love to get down to single figures. The more you play, and practice, the better you get. But I just don’t have time, unfortunately. That said, the three times I played this year, I played well.
The problem is that when you play a lot, you think you are better than you really are. But when you are not playing much, you just keep your head down and swing slowly. It seems to happen for me better when I play that way.
4. Who introduced you to the game?
A man called Michael Osborne was the key. When I was racing in Dubai, he said it was important to fill my spare time. I had to be doing something, so he arranged a lesson for me every week for three months. So I played at Nad Al Sheba there. It was fantastic.
5. Who gets you out on the course nowadays?
Well, my father-in-law is Babs Keating, and he is always on to come out and play in the pro-ams. It’s a lovely game that way.
6. When you were boxing as a kid someone suggested you’d make a good jockey. Sport is clearly a great love of yours.
I was into all sport growing up. I was an All Ireland champion at boxing, I played football and basketball and ran for the school. But I must say, I find the pro-ams to be great social days and I get to meet a lot of sports people I looked up to over the years.
7. What’s your most memorable golfing memory?
I got to play in the JP McManus Pro-Am, and that’s the highlight of my career! The first day I played with Robert Allenby, and then on the second day, it was Michael Campbell, the New Zealander, and Samuel L Jackson, the actor.
8. Did you have a Pulp Fiction moment and mention the “Royale with Cheese” after the round?
Haha. He was just brilliant. Such great fun to play with.
9. What do all these great sportsmen and successful artists have in common?
There is something inside them, whether it be a big role or major championships, or a big race, they are calmer than others. But I really don’t know if it is something you can learn and practice, or it is something that’s inside you. That’s the mystery.
10. Pádraig Harrington has often spoken about golfers trying too hard in majors. The winners seem to be at ease, playing their normal game.
I don’t know if you can practice it or prepare yourself for it, but there is something inside those people that when it comes to the crunch, you are there and the big occasion doesn’t get to you.
Maybe he’s right. The big day is not a day for trying something new. It’s a day for the consistency of what you have done for the last 20 years. Then, at the end of the day, you can say, you did your best.
11. Name your dream fourball?
One of my sporting idols was Michael Jordan, the basketball player. He was getting $100 million a year, but he always wanted to take the last shot, and if the game was on the line, he seemed to be able to win the game.
12. Who else makes your fourball?
Roy Keane. A competitor. And as I am a big soccer fan, I’d put Messi in there as well, just to see how he’d do against the other two lads. I am talking about people who could win games by themselves; guys that made the difference.
13. If you could play one final game of golf, where would you tee it up?
I was at the Breeders’ Cup in Kentucky, and I played Valhalla. I played really, really well on a Friday and then won the Breeders’ Cup on Saturday. So I have good memories of that place. In Ireland, we are tremendously lucky to have so many great places to play I couldn’t name just one.
14. What about a favourite par-three?
I wouldn’t mind having a go at the 17th at Sawgrass just to see what the pros face in The Players.
15. Who made the Johnny Murtagh story possible?
My parents. I didn’t ride a horse until I was 15 and they sent me down to the apprentice school. My father wanted to be a jockey, but his parents felt you had to be in that game and it wasn’t for him. So when I asked, they let me go and it went from there.
16. Who was the greatest jockey?
Mick Kinane was a brilliant, brilliant jockey and someone who gave Irish jockeys worldwide recognition. He opened the door for the rest of us. He is Michael Jordan, Roy Keane and Lionel Messi all wrapped up into one. It’s easy to be good in Royal Ascot on a Saturday, but he was as good in Roscommon on a Tuesday.
That’s what I learned from him. It’s easy to get up for the Derby. As my wife says to me, it’s somebody’s Derby down in Roscommon. They deserve the same effort as you give the horses at Ascot. That’s what it comes back to — consistency.
17. Golf is mainly a string of failures punctuated by the odd success. Is racing different?
It is all about winning in our game but the races come a lot quicker. The victories are short-lived and so are the defeats. Either you win, or you learn.
Racing is great for me. The furthest race to four and a half minutes and the shortest is 57-59 seconds. My concentration is good for that, but golf is five hours a day for four days for the pros.
18. What’s your idea of perfect happiness?
Sure if you are happy with yourself, everything else is going to be happier. Sunny thoughts bring happy smiles!