WITH the Ryder Cup still almost seven months away, subtle pressure is already being applied to some of the bright, young European aspirants.

Among them is Padraig Harrington who has been drawn with Bernhard Langer and the holder, Colin Montgomerie, in the opening two rounds of the Desert Classic.

The hand of European skipper Seve Ballesteros is also evident in other notable three-balls. For instance the 1996 Rookie of the Year, Thomas Bjorn, is in action with Greg Norman, alongside another promising youngster, Scotland's Raymond Russell.

Indeed the Dane received a ringing endorsement yesterday when the captain said: "It looks like he will be on the team for sure. Then England's Lee Westwood, who has been given an invitation to his first US Masters in April, is in a three-ball with Ballesteros and Peter Mitchell.

The objective is to see how these players will perform in high-profile company. As it happened, Harrington played himself into this type of situation two weeks ago at Sun City, where he battled over the closing stages in the company of Nick Price. Since then, he damaged his right wrist. "After tomorrow, I'll have a better idea of my prospects for the tournament," he said yesterday.

Meanwhile, Philip Walton is familiar with the blooding process from his is familiar with the blooding process from his ill-fated attempt at getting into the 1989 team. But that's very much in the past and the Malahide man is determined on a low-key approach to the possibility of retaining his place in the team for the clash with the US at Valderrama.

Walton, who is about to make his first tournament appearance of the season, expressed satisfaction with a long winter break. "It allowed me to clear out all the garbage of last year," he said. "I've now got my head straight and once that part of me is right, the rest of my game tends to take care of itself. I'm hitting the ball pretty good and I'm looking forward to competing again."

He and Raymond Burns were working together and the Ulsterman looked particularly impressive as he rifled draw-shots down the range with a "strong" four wood. "There's the guy to have a bet on," teased Walton.

Burns, who is impatient to make a worthwhile impact on the tour, had his best performance of last season when finishing in a share of fifth place here to Colin Montgomerie. And he did it in style, smashing a three-wood of 256 yards to within nine feet of the Din at the lone 18th for the only eagle there on the final day.

"I can do better this time," he vowed. "I feel the need to make something happen and the way I'm hitting the ball, this could be, the week." And, of course, an improvement on last year's cheque for £25,140 would be even more welcome.