Golf:The European Club confirmed today they will not be hosting next year's Irish PGA Championship. The Wicklow venue staged the event for the last three years, during which time Pádraig Harrington won before going on to secure the British Open in 2007 and 2008.

In a letter sent to the PGA Irish Region, The European Club owner, Pat Ruddy, said it was time to cut back and the “time has come for our members and guests to have a break and to that end we have begun a severe cutting back of our roughs”.

The European Club is one of Ireland’s finest links courses and Harrington reaped the benefit of playing in the Irish PGA Championship the week before the British Open instead of teeing it up in the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond which is played on a parkland.

The European club also hosted the ladies’ and men’s amateur championships in 2006 when Trish Mangan and Rory McIlroy were respective winners.