A prize fund of £1.15 million for this year's Murphy's Irish Open at Druids Glen on July 2nd to 5th reflects the astonishing growth in golf sponsorship world-wide. We now have a situation in which the rewards for the country's premier event are outstripping inflation more than 10-fold.
This year's event will also be notable for the return of Nick Faldo, who would appear to have been forgiven for his decidedly graceless comments about arrangements for the tournament after his appearance last year. Either way, it is debatable whether his presence will do much to enhance an already strong field, given his bleak form of recent months.
But the money is amazing. When Carrolls revived the Irish Open at Woodbrook in 1975, the winner, Christy O'Connor Jnr, received £5,000 from a fund of £30,000. Set against this year's fund which, incidentally, converts to Stg£1 million , it represents an increase of 3,800 per cent.
Inflation has risen by a cumulative 377.8 per cent over the last 23 years, so, in real terms, the value of this year's fund is 10-times greater than it was in 1975.
Small wonder than Ken Schofield, executive director of the PGA European Tour, greeted yesterday's news with some enthusiasm. "Since we celebrated our 25th anniversary in 1996, the challenge for the European Tour has been to lay the foundations for the next 25 years," said Schofield.
"This announcement provides further evidence that long-term relationships between sponsors and the Tour will enable us to meet all our goals."
Ireland will now be staging two of the six wealthiest tournaments in Europe this season. Murphy's announcement of a 53 per cent rise in their prize fund over last year comes on the heels of a similar boost in the fund for the Smurfit European Open to £1.5 million (Stg£1.25).
So, the top six events in Europe are (funds in sterling): 1, British Open £1.75 million; 2, Volvo Masters £1.7 million (including bonus pool); 3, Smurfit European Open £1.25; 4, Volvo PGA Championship £1.2 million; 5, Deutsche Bank Open £1.1 million; 6, Murphy's Irish Open £1.0 million.
Meanwhile, the appeal of an admirably strong field was enhanced last weekend when Irish Open champion Colin Montgomerie beat his great rival Ernie Els to capture the Volvo PGA title. Both players will be in action at Druids Glen where the Scot will be attempting to equal Faldo's record of three successive triumphs from 1991 to 1993.
Other former champions in the line-up are Ian Woosnam, winner in 1988 and 1989, Seve Ballesteros (1983, 1985 and 1986), who showed welcome glimpses of his old form at Wentworth last weekend, and JoseMaria Olazabal, the champion of 1990. Another exciting Spanish challenger will be the remarkable teenager Sergio Garcia, arguably the finest young golfer in Europe.
Among this season's tournament winners taking part will be: Thomas Bjorn (Heineken Classic and Spanish Open), Andrew Coltart (Qatar Masters), Els (South African Open and Bay Hill Invitational), Olazabal (Desert Classic), Stephen Leaney (Moroccan Open), Peter Mitchell (Portuguese Open), Patrik Sjoland (Italian Open) and, of course, Darren Clarke (Benson and Hedges Invitational).
As Faldo approached the 1997 staging at Druids Glen, he had relinquished the Masters title which he had claimed with a stunning victory over Greg Norman. He viewed that as "a springboard; that the game is going well at last and I can compete again." The resurgence failed to last, however, and he currently faces a weekly battle for survival on the US Tour.
In nine American tournaments so far this season, his highest finish was a share of 22nd place in the Mercedes Championship, the opening event of the year. Since then, he missed the cut in the Masters and had an all-time worst round of 83 in the MCI Classic at Harbour Town a week later.
There were signs of a revival, however, in the Colonial last weekend when a final round of 66 gave him a share of 29th place behind Tom Watson. Either way, given his criticism of the greens and practice facilities in Britain's Express last year, one suspects that there is a debt to be repaid.
