THEY have travelled from all parts, south, east and west, to be in Hope Island, Queensland, this week for the start of the 1997 season on the PGA European Tour. And there seems to be full acceptance of rather curious geographical arrangements as the £700,000 Johnnie Walker Classic gets under way on Thursday.

Ireland's four challengers - Ronan Rafferty, Padraig Harrington, Paul McGinley and Darren Clarke - arrived by different routes. McGinley, for instance, travelled from California where he had done some pre season practising last week.

Nick Faldo, on the other hand, arrived yesterday from New Zealand, where he spent last week indulging his great passion for trout fishing. "It was great," said the reigning US Masters champion. "I must have walked about four miles a day, up by mountain streams where every step you took could mean a broken ankle. It helped get my mind in shape."

He then dropped a further hint that the Irish Open would be on his schedule for July, when he also intends to play in the Loch Lomond Invitational, prior to the British Open at Royal Troon. The US Player of the Year, Tom Lehman, also confirmed yesterday that he would be at Loch Lomond.

Meanwhile, there was good news over the weekend for David Higgins, who had been resigned to sitting out the first two weeks of the new season, because of the pressure of entries. "I've managed to get into next week's Heineken Classic, so I'm heading to Australia on Thursday," said the Waterville player yesterday.

With the impatience of youth, Higgins has been kicking his heels at home for the last three weeks, itching to get back into tournament action.

"I probably won't get into the South African Open early next month, but I plan to go to South Africa just the same," he added. "It will be an ideal opportunity to do some practice."

Faldo has already been in action this year, finishing 12 strokes behind Tiger Woods in the 54 hole, rain affected Mercedes Championship at La Costa, California, nine days ago. "Tiger is doing everything that is expected of him and he's certainly sharpened everybody's minds," said the Englishman, who will be 40 in July. "It means that us oldies have got to get ourselves into shape. We're all going to have flat stomachs."

As to whether he was still troubled by a mysterious foot complaint which affected him at La Costa, Faldo said: "I had to have it bandaged up, but it went as quickly as it came and I still don't know what it was." Could it be that age was beginning to take its toll? "Nonsense," he grinned. "I've got the body of a 30 year old."

When reminded that he once said he was planning to retire at 40, he replied: "I don't know how you stop at this game. You always think there's another good shot and another good round in you. At the moment I feel I've another five years if I stay physically strong."

Now based on the American circuit, Faldo's appearance this week gives him the opportunity to pick up valuable Ryder Cup qualifying points. His first appearance of the season in Europe is unlikely to be before Druids Glen on July 3rd-6th.

Among his rivals at the Peter Thomson designed Hope Island course, for a title he captured in 1990 and 1993, are Colin Montgomerie, John Daly, Fred Couples, Ernie Els, Bernhard Langer and defending champion Ian Woosnam. The possibility of the Irish representation being extended depends on whether Raymond Burns can improve on his current status of first reserve.

While leading Europeans looked towards next September's Ryder Cup, Mark Calcavecchia had further cause last weekend to rue his involvement in the 1991 clash at Kiawah Island, where he collapsed to a halved match with Montgomerie, from a seemingly unassailable position of dormie four. Though he has won twice in the US since then, the blow to his confidence is more accurately reflected in a remarkable number of near misses.

In losing a four shot lead to John Cook in the final round of the Bob Hope Classic last Sunday, Calcavecchia was runner up for the 12th time since capturing the British Open at Royal Troon in 1989. And his best finish in a major championship since then was a share of 11th place in the 1994 British Open.

Cook, on the other hand, hasn't looked back since a consultation with Ken Venturi 18 months ago turned around his career. The 39 year old won twice last season on the USPGA Tour and now has nine victories to his credit, quite apart from the 1982 Brazilian Open and the 1995 Mexican Open.

He is remembered in Europe not so much for the Ryder Cup fourball victory that he and Chip Beck achieved against Faldo and Montgomerie at The Belfry in 1993, as for the manner in which he squandered a chance of victory in the British Open at Muirfield the previous year. Cook three putted the long 17th for a par and then bogeyed the last to lose by a stroke to Faldo.

. The 1997 PGA European Seniors Tour will include five new tournaments and the total prize money will be a record £1.92 million, a 32 per cent increase from last year.

Only seven years ago, the Seniors Tour had only two tournaments, with prize money (a mere £192,000).

This year there will be 17 events, and the new tournaments are the Irish Senior Open in Dublin from May 16th-18th; the Swedish Seniors Open at the Fagelbro Golf Club, near Stockholm, from June 26th-28th; the Wentworth Senior Masters over the Edinburgh Course at Wentworth from August 1st-3rd; the Credit Suisse Seniors Open in Switzerland from August 8th-10th and the Czech Senior Open at Marianske Lazne from September 19th-21st.