So... Nick Faldo has his own private island off the coast of Mayo. It emerged in reports of a court case yesterday about the island (but involving an ownership well before Faldo bought it.)
He hardly seems like the type of lad who will be slathering himself in the red and green ahead of Mayo's clash with Galway in Elverys MacHale Park next Saturday night.
Bartragh Island covers a 360-acre area and is situated in Killala Bay. It is a dune-land island and was bought by Faldo's investment company - Nick Faldo International.
The six-time Major winner intended to build a golf resort on the island after he bought it for a reported €1.5 million in 2003 but a combination of the court case (which was only resolved yesterday) and the recession put paid to any hopes he had of developing the site.
Yesterday's court ruling relating to a previous ownership dispute as well as the economic upturn, could mean Faldo's development plans could be back on course.
He did, however, talk to the Irish Times back in 2003 - and announced with typical Faldo bluster that he intended to educate the locals like some sort of benevolent deity.
"My personal dream is to come here often to relax with my family; with luck, I will one day teach the local fishermen to play golf, and in return they can show me a few tricks of their trade."
In describing his plans for the site - Faldo said he intended to create "perhaps the best and most unique [golf course] in the world."
"The golf links I envisage would be essentially 'hand-crafted', a return to how courses were created long ago; it is an incredible site and it would not be a case of building a course so much as 'discovering' it."
When Faldo was Ryder Cup captain back in 2008, American captain Paul Azinger was heard calling Faldo "a prick". He might not have been far off the mark.
