Ryder Cup 2006 Heroes Return to the K Club at Irish Open
By Joe Walton
The 2016 Irish Open at the K Club includes five of the European team who won the 2006 Ryder Cup at the venue. Ahead of their return we profile their careers.
Ryder Cup + 2006 + K Club – 2016 = Ryder Cup Heroes. There are few countries in the world where golf is as popular and where heroes are long-remembered as Ireland.
So, it made perfect sense for the Ryder Cup to come to the Emerald Isle in 2006. It also made sense to bring it to County Kildare and the K Club. It may have only opened in the early 1990s but the K Club had quickly developed a reputation as one of the very best courses on the entire island of Ireland. Arnold Palmer had designed a world class course for events of the magnitude of the Ryder Cup. The scene was set for a great battle.
In the end though, it was less a battle and more a trouncing.
Ian Woosnam’s Europeans won by 18½ points to 9½. That made it three victories on the spin for the Europeans which was, at the time, a first. Of course, we all know now that Europe winning the Ryder Cup is the norm rather than the exception.
Don’t worry though my American friends. It’s the taking part that counts and despite not being able to ever really gel, Team USA have never finished worse than second in the Ryder Cup, which is an impressive record!
Fast forward almost 10 years from 2006 to the present day. The European Tour is returning to the K Club with the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open. The event is hosted by Rory McIlroy’s foundation and he is just one of the few genuinely world class players in the field. Included in that number are five of Europe’s heroes from 2006.
It seemed like a great chance to have a look through the ups and downs of the golfing lives of Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington, Robert Karlsson, Paul McGinley, and Lee Westwood.
Next: Darren Clarke