It's not that the K Club is being tricked up for this week's Smurfit European Open, but a little like the USGA who run the US Open, it seems that there is a determination to make winning as difficult as possible. "It seems that they want level par to win," said Padraig Harrington, although the increased difficulty is unlikely to faze the Dubliner, writes Philip Reid

Indeed, back in the final phase of his amateur days, when he was a plus-two golfer, Harrington always picked two courses for personal matches against handicap players. One was the European in Brittas Bay; the other was the K Club. Since then, however, the course has matured and become far more difficult. And the course for this week's eighth staging of the tournament at the Straffan venue features quite a number of changes since a year ago, when Darren Clarke won.

Most of the changes are in regard to new bunkering and tee-boxes, but there have also been a number of mature trees transplanted to provide greater definition and also to increase the degree of difficulty.

"It will be difficult," said Harrington, "and I am looking forward to that difficulty. I know the course, which is a help, but the strange thing is that I have got what I wanted after all these years, in that I am hitting the ball higher, and that doesn't help on a course where the wind is a feature; and it nearly always is at the K Club. It always tends to be windy there and that would be one thing that would knock me back.

"The set-up will be quite similar to that of a US Open course. But the US Open tends to be a tight course with little wind - in contrast, the K Club has heavy rough in the trees and you do get wind. It is going to be difficult, but no matter how tough they think the course is going to be, someone is going to shoot a number, maybe 12 or 14 under par. There have been incredible scores there, even in terrible conditions."

Changes will be apparent as early as the first hole, where a large bunker spanning 25 yards in length has been built on the left-hand side of the fairway, while a pot bunker has been installed on the second, also down the left. A new tee-box has been constructed on the fifth, increasing the length of the hole by 24 yards, and the sixth also has a new tee, extending the par four by 31 yards to 478 yards.

The uphill ninth has also been increased by 27 yards, bringing the chestnut tree on the right more into play.

The dog-leg par-four 13th - the fourth as the members play it - has been lengthened by 21 yards, which makes it more difficult for players to cut the corner, while new bunkers have been constructed on the short 14th to protect the green. The final change is the extension of the large fairway bunker on the 18th, which now requires a carry of 280 yards.

Harrington is one of 12 Irish players in the field, including Clarke and Des Smyth, Paul McGinley, who is back after missing the Irish Open due to fatigue, Eamonn Darcy, Philip Walton, Michael Hoey, Graeme McDowell, David Walker, John Dignam, John Dwyer and Ronan Rafferty.

Without a win on tour so far this season, Harrington is not getting overly anxious. "I have lots of goals, different ones. I have failed on some already, but the main ones are a bit longer term. The development of my game is on track.

"I would love to have won tournaments at this stage of the season but that hasn't happened and I have to be patient. What difference does it make if you win one at the start of the year or the end of the year? I am getting some confidence in that things are going in the right direction, and that is important to me," he insisted.

Nick Faldo, meanwhile, has withdrawn due to a stomach bug. A three-time winner of the Irish Open, his only European Open win came in 1992 when the event was played at Sunningdale.

Colin Montgomerie, who has been troubled by a back injury, is due to make a decision on his participation at some stage today.