Neither Rory McIlroy nor Padraig Harrington were in any doubt that Lough Erne can host a European Tour event after their duel on the Lough.

“It well exceeds what it needs for a tour event,” Harrington said.

“It looks like it would be an ideal place to hold a big event. It has everything going for it.

“If a tournament was to be played here you would see a fantastically exciting event.

“You’ve seen by the crowds here today that Northern Ireland is crying out for a big tournament to come here,” added McIlroy.

“Hopefully in the not too distant future a tour event can come here and I know it would be a great success.”

With crowds much nearer 6,000 than the original 4,000 tickets that went on sale, it was a bit of a tight squeeze around the par threes.

And the people caught up in traffic jams in Enniskillen and a two-mile tailback on the single entrance to the course, might have a different opinion.

Not that any of that bothered the players who flew in over the Lough by seaplane.

At just under 7,200 yards and even with a 637-yard par five, it is just a little on the short side by modern championship course standards. McIlroy drove the 396-yard par four seventh green; Harrington hit it even further but just missed the putting surface.

They were lucky with the weather, though, and with a wind howling in off Lower Lough Erne, it might have been a very different story.

It must be said that the course itself looks magnificent and the vision that Sir Nick Faldo had when he first came to Co Fermanagh has been fully realised.

Both men relished the prospect of a round away from the pressures of tournament golf — especially in a week following the Open.

Even though Harrington had plenty of trouble with the water on the course, he played with a freedom seldom seen this year and in truth was a little unlucky on a couple of occasions, especially on the front nine.

McIlroy was more than happy to take the bragging rights from the match but, as ever, was diplomatic.

“I might have won today but I don’t have three Majors – I’m not in that league yet,” he said.

The two men indulged in a little target practice on the spectacular par three fifth hole hit over the water.

Each had six shots aiming at rings around the cup to raise money for charity. The shot that counted for the match was their first and McIlroy made the most of his when he finally arrived on the green as he rolled in his second birdie putt of the day.

By the time the match had reached the 18th the wedding party from the hotel swelled the crowd still further to applaud the two men home.