The drivers' letter was aimed at Mosley, who was heavily criticised after the United States Grand Prix fiasco, rather than at the FIA. At Limerick Golf Club in 2000, the auction contributed towards the £15m raised That figure was forecast to be doubled last night. J P had all but guaranteed it.But more so had his quite incredible cast list, who proved that this was no ordinary "charidee day" to help garner the caring, sharing image so loved by their publicists as they temporarily banished the professionals' widely held hatred of pro-ams and annoyingly wayward and worse, "chatty", playing partners. You have no idea what he's done for me in my life." But what, Tiger? "Well, he was gracious enough to have a special day for me and my wife at a hotel he owns. These are wonderful things."Overlooking the fact that any hotelier worth his five stars would gladly give over their marketing budget for the entire year to have Mr and Mrs Woods in their guest book, that story at least shows the essence of McManus, a man who lives by the creed, "you get the most out of people by not expecting too much". And boy, how much he has got out of this merry lot.Forget the golfers, forget the businessman numbering Dermot Desmond and Joe Lewis, forget the other sporting superstars in attendance here that included Michael Owen, Gordon Strachan and Martin O'Neill giving up their time so courteously and forget that almost every last euro of the "token" €1m (£700,000) prize fund was put straight back into the many local charities that form the basis of the McManus pro-am.
And consider the auction at last night's Gala Ball.More was expected than the £1m that a round with Woods in Florida fetched at the last "tournament", while phone-figure sums were marked up for an Aston Martin DB9, 18 holes with Jodie Kidd, a few commissioned paintings including a portrait of Woods and a signed, framed Grammy from U2's Bono. Well, wouldn't most billionaires whose Christian name wasn't Ebenezer? "Yes, but it's the way he does things," Woods said "He doesn't have to, but he does and it's just unbelievable Any time I can support him I'll be there. "I would have got in on world rankings," the Englishmen quipped.But only just. There were eight of the world's top 20 here and when Campbell, the recently crowned US Open champion, called it the "strongest field on European soil so far this year", he was not joking.
But perhaps he could be the one to tell us why? "This is my way of saying, 'Thanks, J P'," he said. "And I'll tell you why." Now were we getting somewhere? Er, no. What followed was a nice enough little tale about how the richest man in all Limerick and, most believe, all Ireland, once paid for a round of drinks when the New Zealander mislaid his wallet. "J P."Woods' own efforts to get here further emphasise this unconditional loyalty to the legendary racehorse-owning gambler long ago christened "Lord of the Ring". On Sunday night, at about 6pm Central District Time, the 29-year-old finished second to Jim Furyk in the Western Open. The world No 1 cursed his luck, changed his shoes, jumped in a car, hotfooted it to the airport and jumped on a jet provided by McManus and was on the Adare Golf Club practice range by 11am after a few hours' sleep en route.He was the lucky one.