John O'Leary: Profile of Irish Golfer
Full name: John Eudes O'Leary
Date of birth: August 19, 1949
Place of birth: Dublin, Ireland
Date and place of death: March 26, 2020, in Esher, England
Nickname: Jonno
His Biggest Wins
O'Leary won twice on the European Tour:- 1976 Greater Manchester Open
- 1982 Irish Open
His non-tour wins included:
- 1972 Irish Dunlop Tournament
- 1975 Sumrie-Bournemouth Better-Ball (partnered by Jack Newton)
- 1985 Sunningdale Foursomes (partnered by Sam Torrance)
In the Majors
Of the four professional majors in men's golf, O'Leary only ever played in the British Open. He first appeared in the Open in 1971, and last in 1987, with no Top 10 finishes in 12 total starts. His best showing was a tie for 13th place in the 1979 British Open. He had one other Top 30 showing, a tie for 26th in the 1977 Open.
More About John O'Leary
John O'Leary was always a golfer who garnered attention. In large part that was because in his younger years he had what Peter Alliss called a "liking for bright clothing and ... (a) great, bushy mop of hair."He got into golf at age 12, and by age 15 was playing off scratch. By age 20, O'Leary was starting to show his promise in amateur events. He was second in the 1969 Irish Amateur Close, and also that year played for Team Ireland in the European Amateur Team Championship. In 1970, he was runner-up in the West of Ireland Amateur, and also claimed his biggest amateur victory, the South of Ireland Amateur.
O'Leary turned pro in 1970. In 1971, he had another notable second-place showing, in Lord Derby's Under-23 Professionals' Tournament.
His first professional victory of note was in the 1972 Irish Dunlop Tournament on the Irish PGA circuit.
The European Tour was founded in 1972, and in those early '70s years O'Leary played the European Tour for much of the year but also spent a couple months playing what was then called the Southern Africa Tour. At the 1972 South African Masters, he started 67, 67, 64, battling Gary Player the whole way and the entire final round. But he finished third when he scored 6 on the final hole. (He was runner-up to Player again in that event in 1979.)
O'Leary finished 34th on the European Tour money list in 1972, and would remain inside the Top 60 on the season-ending money list every year through 1983.
But he was still without a win on the European Tour when 1975 started ... and when it finished. But O'Leary notched a couple victories elsewhere that year, including the Holiday Inns Invitational in South Africa. He also partnered with Jack Newton to win the Sumrie-Bournemouth Better-Ball tournament in England. Those wins, although not on the Euro Tour, combined with a runner-up finish in the French Open and a career-best 17th-place finish on the money list, helped O'Leary earn a spot in the 1975 Ryder Cup for Team Great Britain & Ireland.
That was the last Ryder Cup played before Team GB&I expanded to become Team Europe. It was an easy win for Team USA, and O'Leary lost all four matches he played. The 26-year-old O'Leary first partnered with Tommy Horton in a foursomes loss to Lee Trevino/J.C. Snead; then Horton/O'Leary fell again to Trevino/Hale Irwin. On Day 2, O'Leary's partner was Christy O'Connor Jr., but they fell to Tom Weiskopf/Johnny Miller. Finally, in singles, O'Leary lost to Irwin, 2 and 1.
O'Leary's first win on the European Tour happened at the 1976 Greater Manchester Open. He came close to a huge victory in 1978, when he finished in second, one stroke behind Ken Brown, at the Irish Open.
But after another runner-up in the Welsh Open in 1981, O'Leary got his signature win at the 1982 Irish Open. O'Leary was tied for the lead after three rounds with Maurice Bembridge, leading to huge expectations and hopes from the home Ireland crowd — only three Irish golfers had ever won the Irish Open through 1981. O'Leary needed a police escort just to get to the golf course for his final round.
And when O'Leary shot 73 to Bembridge's 74, he had the one-stroke victory (over a field that included such heavyweights as Nick Faldo, Greg Norman, Tom Kite and Nick Price). It then took another 25 years before another Irishman won, Padraig Harrington in 2007. And O'Leary was there to present the trophy to Harrington.
O'Leary ended 1982 19th on the European Tour money list, the second of his two career Top 20 finishes.
O'Leary had a few more years in the Top 60 of the money list. And he won again in a non-tour event, at the 1985 Sunningdale Foursomes (partnered by Sam Torrance).
He played a full tour schedule every year from the European Tour's creation in 1972 through 1989. Then he returned in 1992 and made his last five tour starts that year. European Tour stats show that O'Leary made 331 starts in his career. In addition to the two official wins he also had four seconds, three thirds and 41 total Top 10 finishes.
Along the way he represented Ireland in many other international team matches, in addition to the Ryder Cup. O'Leary was on Team Ireland at the World Cup in 1972, 1980 and 1982; and in the Double Diamond International (that included teams for Ireland, each U.K. Country, the U.S. plus Rest of the World) each year from 1972 through 1977. There were still other international assigments, too.
But by 1985, O'Leary had joined the board of directors of the European Tour. And he served as a director of the tour for 34 years, until retiring in 2019. He was there during a time of major growth for the tour in terms of number of tournaments and, especially, purses. He was also known for being a friend when players needed one, being a raconteur when anyone needed a laugh, and for his support of younger players, particularly among the Irish contingent of golfers. He also helped bring the 2006 Ryder Cup to Ireland, its first time played in that country.
Sources:
(Book titles are affiliate links; commissions earned)
Alliss, Peter. The Who's Who of Golf, 1983, Orbis Publishing.
BBC.com. "John O'Leary: Former Irish Open winner and Ryder Cup player dies," March 26, 2020, https://www.bbc.com/sport/golf/52054572.
European Tour. Players, John O'Leary, Career Records, https://www.europeantour.com/players/146/career-record.
EuropeanTour.com. "John O'Leary: 1949 - 2020," March 26, 2020, https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/news/articles/detail/john-o-leary-1949-2020/.
Reid, Philip. "Former Irish Open winner John O’Leary has died," The Irish Times, March 26, 2020, https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/golf/former-irish-open-winner-john-o-leary-has-died-1.4213043.
