This year's Smurfit Irish Professional Championship is to be staged at Baltray on October 5th to 8th, running against Wentworth's Cisco Matchplay event, as it did last year.
The return to Baltray means that the championship, which now has an increased prize fund of £110,000, remains on links terrain, making eminent sense for the time of year.
The 1999 event at The Island was won by Royal Dublin teaching professional Neil Manchip against a field which included Darren Clarke. The Tyroneman will not be competing on this occasion, however, given that his wife, Heather, is expecting their second child at that time.
This will be the fourth staging of the championship at Co Louth, which is also the venue for the Irish qualifying tournament for the British Open at St Andrews. When the championship was last held there in 1987, Philip Walton beat local man Des Smyth in a play-off.
European Tour executive Ken Schofield is planning to speak to Jose Maria Olazabal before responding to criticisms aired by the Spanish star's manager yesterday.
Olazabal was said by Sergio Gomez to be considering joining the US circuit because he feels marginalised by a tour which is becoming "Britainised" and obsessed with Colin Montgomerie.
