Golf: Irish caddie Colin Byrne, who recently ended his three-year partnership with former British Open champion Paul Lawrie, has secured the "bag" of two-time European Tour money winner and former US Open champion Retief Goosen, who now plays the vast bulk of his season on the more lucrative US Tour, writes Philip Reid Golf correspondent

Byrne, a native of Howth in Co Dublin, and who is a member of The Royal Dublin Golf Club, will commence his association with the South African at the Mercedes Championship, the opening tournament on the 2004 US Tour which takes place at Kapalua in Hawaii on January 8th-11th. The event is limited to tournament champions from the 2003 season. Goosen won the Chrysler Championship in Florida towards the tail-end of the 2003 campaign.

"It's an exciting opportunity," conceded Byrne, a business graduate who has been caddying for almost 15 years and who includes Lawrie, Greg Turner and Darren Clarke among his previous employers.

"I've known Retief but not worked for him before . . . but apparently he became aware at the recent event in Sun City that I was available, approaches were made . . . and I've got the job. I'm really looking forward to it, I consider it an extremely positive move. It's quite flattering in a way."

Byrne's partnership with Lawrie ended "amicably" after the Seve Trophy, and given his reputation as one of the most able caddies in the business, the Dubliner did not have to wait long before approaches were made, and now he can look forward to a potentially fruitful and rewarding partnership with Goosen who is one of the world's top players.

After topping the European Tour Order of Merit in 2001 and again in 2002 - on both occasions finishing ahead of Padraig Harrington - Goosen decided to concentrate mainly on the US circuit in 2003 and eventually finished in 10th place on the money list with prize money of $3,166,370. Despite a limited playing schedule in Europe, he managed to finish in 12th position (earning over €1 million), his only tournament win coming in the Lancome Trophy.

Goosen, who is ranked number seven in the official world rankings, won the 2001 US Open at Tulsa Hills where he beat American Mark Brooks in an 18-hole play-off, and since claiming that first major, has established himself as a truly world class player with wins in Europe, the US, South Africa and Asia.

While Byrne will commence his partnership with Goosen at the Mercedes Championship and move on to the following week's Sony Open in Honolulu, a similar itinerary will be undertaken by Darren Clarke, who finished his 2003 globetrotting with a disappointing performance in the Target World Challenge where he finished last of the 16-man field.

Still, he picked up $150,000 for his troubles and this week, will undertake leisure travelling when accompanying his family on a trip to Lapland (to visit Santa).

Clarke's travels in recent weeks have taken him to Singapore, Japan, South Africa, Hong Kong and the United States - but he can only look forward to enjoying the festive period at home before jetting off to Hawaii for the first two events on the US Tour, where he has a full card for 2004 and where he intends to play an increased number of tournaments.

Harrington, meanwhile, ended the 2003 season in good form, following his previous week's win in the Hong Kong Open (the first scheduled tournament on the 2004 European Tour) with a third-place finish behind winner Davis Love and runner-up Tiger Woods in the Target World Challenge. Harrington's reward was a cheque for $500,000 while the $1.2 million Love collected represented the biggest pay cheque of his career, surpassing the $1.17 million he won in capturing the Players Championship earlier in the season.

Love, who became a repeat winner of the Target, following his success in 2000, had to withstand a final day charge from Woods, who started the day nine back but ended only two shots adrift. Woods donated his $700,000 runners-up cheque to the Tiger Woods Foundation.

While Clarke intends to resume playing competitively inside a month, Harrington has opted for an eight-week break from competition safe in the knowledge that he leads the Volvo Order of Merit starting the New Year for the second successive year.

Next year's AIB Irish Seniors Open, meanwhile, will return to the Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort for the third successive year - but with a new date in the schedule. Traditionally, the Irish Seniors has been the first port of call in Europe for the tour which generally opens with events in the Caribbean.

For 2004, the Irish Seniors moves back from its traditional May slot to the first week in June and avoids a clash with the Volvo PGA, one of the European Tour's flagship events. Next year's tournament will be held in Adare on June 4th-6th, the week after the US PGA Seniors in Kentucky.