GOLF RAISES A GLASS TO JNR
Much-loved Christy O’Connor jnr was right up there as pro
AT the Dublin launch of his autobiography, ‘From Rough To Fair Ways’ in 2012, Christy O’Connor Jnr told a gem of his time at Shannon, where he was club pro. One day he noticed a young guy on the range who was striking the purest of shots. The kid had power fade, controlled draw, distance, the lot.
Intrigued, Christy asked the visitor where he was from. ‘The North,’ he replied.
‘And what’s your handicap?’ continued Christy. ‘Twelve,’ said the visitor. ‘Jaysus,’ quipped Christy, ‘you must be a s***e putter.’
The late Christy used to play up his own putting woes, claiming they cost him dearly as a pro; Des Smyth, a long-time friend, felt this week that Christy’s putting cost him The Open at Royal St George’s in 1985.
Others weren’t so sure. Philip Walton, another friend and Tour comrade, felt he generally ‘found a way of scraping them in’.
For several years on Tour, Walton and Smyth played Junior and Eamonn Darcy in a 50 quid fourball on the Tuesday before tournaments.
‘It was great craic, you’d never get a thing off Christy or Darce; they were some double act. The matches nearly always went to the 18th too,’ recalled Walton.
The bonds welded together on Tour were never broken and Smyth, Walton, Junior and Darcy, were among a crew of Tour vets who hooked up over Christmas in Dublin. Paul McGinley, Paddy McGuirk, Jimmy Heggarty and Denis O’Sullivan were also on the tee at The 37, Dawson Street, as was Ray Latchford, who caddied for Smyth and Walton on Tour.
For all that each achieved in golf, only Junior ticked the boxes of Ryder Cup hero, Irish Open winner, British Seniors Open champion, and a dual winner on the US Champions Tour.
As the night went on, the stories became more outrageous, with Junior, inevitably, in the middle of it all.
‘Christy was the main man, he joked that he’d been on the social trail over Christmas,’ said McGuirk.
In the early 1970s, McGuirk soldiered on the fledging Tour with O’Connor Junior, where he witnessed the good, bad and the bubbly.
‘One week we were playing in a tournament in Worthing in Sussex and Christy was flying, he was going to win.
‘Myself and Senior went out to walk him in, when his ball disappeared into a tree and was never seen again. He wasn’t impressed as he rarely let a chance to win slip.’
Not long after, there was a tournament in La Manga where McGuirk missed the cut and headed for home early.
The County Louth pro had no ticket to make a connecting flight to Dublin but it didn’t matter, as the bould Christy worked his magic.
‘I don’t know how he did it, but he was up at the desk, using all his charm, and he got myself and Mick Murphy on the plane without a ticket,’ said McGuirk.
Junior was regaled this week as a spoon-playing raconteur, who played a mean accordion, held a fine tune and almost played golf for fun.
While a part of him played up to that image, behind the flat white cap and slightly portly carriage burned an outstanding golfing talent which lit up the fairways for a generation, across Europe and beyond.
McGUIRK, for one, was never taken in by his apparently casual approach. ‘He wasn’t a great fella for practice, he preferred to play. He’d play 36 holes in Carlow and that would do, both for his game and for his fitness. He could walk all day,’ he said.
‘Off the course he was relaxed but, on it, no one tried harder. He had a fierce determination. When he got in contention he never let go.’
Junior’s career may be best recalled for that two-iron at The Belfry in 1989, which helped Europe retain the Ryder Cup, and has been ‘exclusively’ sold to countless charities since, but there was much more to Christy Junior, the golfer.
Talking to Smyth, Walton and McGuirk in the wake of his untimely passing this week aged 67, they all agreed he was never one to back off.
‘Christy should have won the Open, and went on to win twice on the Seniors Tour in the States, which is as competitive as it gets,’ said Smyth.
Walton, meanwhile, pointed to his overall pro record. ‘He won 17 times as a pro, on three Tours, and saw off Gary Player to win the Senior Open at Portrush,’ he said.
McGuirk observed: ‘Christy played in two Ryder Cups, and won the Irish Open. He has to be right up there.’
Junior was ‘right up there’ in 1975, when he won the Irish Open at Woodbrook; in 1985, when he shot 64 to lead the Open; in 1989 at the Ryder Cup where he saw off Fred Couples, and in 1992 when he won the British Masters, a fortnight after cheating death in a helicopter crash in Dublin. In his book, he made much of his omission from the 1985 Ryder Cup team, and his annoyance that his uncle, Christy O’Connor Senior, was never made Ryder Cup captain, while his argument for an Irish skipper at the K Club in 2006 fell on deaf ears.
‘That did rankle a bit,’ acknowledged Smyth.
While Walton believes Junior was right to feel miffed at his ’85 oversight, he makes the point that had he been selected then, he might not have got his chance in the limelight four years later.
‘I felt I should have been picked in ’89, but didn’t, then I got my shot at it six years later, which went well for me and the team,’ he said.
McGuirk sensed Christy would have make a fine leader. ‘He was looking to become captain. It was unfortunate it didn’t happen, either for him, or for Christy Senior. Junior got on with everyone. He would have been a players’ man, he knew what they wanted,’ he said. Walton, meanwhile, regarded him as a benevolent uncle. ‘Christy was very loyal and had time for everyone. He will be badly missed by everyone in golf.’ No one will miss Junior more than his uncle, Christy Senior who, at 91, will have the harrowing task of seeing his nephew being buried. ‘There was a picture taken recently at an award evening and Junior looked more like Senior than ever. They were always very close,’ said McGuirk. Darcy, affected more than most by the sudden loss of his close friend, said sadly: ‘I never thought Christy Senior would be burying his nephew.’
Over his 67 years, O’Connor Junior warmed hearts and made friends wherever he went. He leaves an outstanding legacy as tournament player, course designer and charity fund-raiser. As Smyth put it, ‘Christy was a star, on and off the course.’