‘I'd put him right up there as one of the greatest competitors I've ever seen' — Paul McGinley pays tribute to late Paraic O'Rourke

Paul McGinley paid tribute last night to the late former Irish international Paraic O'Rourke who has died. Born in Naas in 1949, O'Rourke won the South of Ireland Amateur Open Championship in 1979, 1981 and 1985 and played 30 matches for Ireland at senior international level. He made his Home Internationals debut at Royal Dornoch in 1980 in a side featuring Ronan Rafferty and Philip Walton and remained unbeaten in 50pc of his appearances for Ireland between 1980 and 1985. A member of Naas and Kilkenny golf clubs, he spearheaded the creation of Gowran Park, bringing in Jeff Howes to design the course. 'I played a lot with him and in a lot of ways, he was my hero because he was part of Dad's group,' McGinley said of Paraic's lifelong friendship with the late Michael McGinley Snr, who was also a member of Naas. 'Turlough Boylan, Tony Pearse, Séamus Rowan and Paraic were always in the group with Dad when I was caddying for him at 13 or 14. 'That's who our dinner dates would be with, and Paraic would always control the conversation because he was larger than life. 'I can honestly say — and I've been through the mill with professional golf as well as amateur — in terms of competitiveness, I would put him right up there as one of the greatest competitors that I've ever seen in golf, and that includes pros. 'He was a wily competitor with not a huge amount of game compared to others, but just so wily and tough and cute. 'It was an incredible education for me at a young age to learn the art of competitiveness from listening to him at dinner, when they'd all replay the matches, whoever they would play, or what scores they had. 'Even as I turned pro, and over the last few years, it was always worth listening to his perspective on competitive situations. 'He had a great view and sense of competitive moments and instincts. Right up to the day he died, he was somebody I would always listen to and process what he had to say. 'As Bobby Jones used to say, there's golf, and there's tournament golf, and believe me, they're two very different things. And I think that's where Paraic was at too.' O'Rourke's habit of drawing the putter from the bag and flashing it at the opposition when he'd hit first and hit the green was a tactic McGinley never forgot, right through to his Ryder Cup career. 'I would always do that as a matter of instinct,' he said. 'The minute I hit it on the green with the honour, I would take out the putter and lean on it. 'I aspired to be like him for two reasons: first, he wore the Leinster sweater with the harp, and then when he made the Irish team, you'd be wide-eyed looking across at him in his Irish jersey. 'He inspired a great sense of stirring ambition in me.' Paraic O'Rourke passed away on Monday, October 12 and is survived by his wife Margaret and children Alan and Emma. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.