EAMONN DARCY, Des Smyth and John McHenry make their seasonal debuts on the European Tour in South Africa this week, while Padraig Harrington's year seems to be going from one memorable moment to another, already.
Darcy, ready to try out a `new' putting stroke and putter, Smyth hoping his 1996 `annus horribilis' will not be repeated, and McHenry continuing his trek on the sunshine tour but restarting his regular tour, are all unsure of how their seasons will start.
Harrington, though, can already record last week's 11th place in Perth and his 25th for openers in Brisbane, taking advantage of a steady beginning to boost his Ryder Cup placing to 14th.
If that were not enough to be going on with, he has already had some good first day draws. Today's tee off is another good one he plays alongside Nick Price, a hero in these parts.
While Darcy knows all about playing with stars, he would not mind a little of Harrington's acumen, he said yesterday, although, the veteran is ready for a new dawn himself.
"The game is all about putting nowadays and if I could putt like a young Harrington then I'd be a different player," said Darcy, who then divulged that he hoped to emulate the Stackstown man after four long months working hard on his stroke.
"I've gone back to the conventional method and started using an Odyssey putter with a soft insert, which gives me better feel and better pace. It's completely changed my form on the greens. Even the boys have noticed. I feel much happier than last year.
Darcy admitted he was close to the end of the road last year with his putting and has not played an event since the European Open at the K Club.
"I was in despair but now if the putter works as well as I think it can, I'll be a different player. But I'm not going to be too hard on myself. This next three weeks in South Africa is all about getting out the cobwebs and preparing for Dubai and the Desert Classic, which I hope to have a good crack at again."
He has chosen a tough baptism for 1997 with the Glendower course which has fairways so tight that one of them has been measured at only 21 feet across, and the kikuyu rough near hard greens makes missing a green almost certain bogey or worse.
Not the sort of course for a player embarking on a salvage operation after an operation proper to cure a bad hand injury. But that is what McHenry will be doing today.
He is attempting to add the other £30,000 he needs of his £50,000 target in 15 events of his, medical exemption from last year, and plays the next three tournaments by dint of his finish last year on the South African rankings. If he succeeds he will be in for the rest of the year and will then aim for top 115 to keep his card.
That is all down a long road for McHenry who at least showed signs of form by finishing 20th behind Mark McNulty in the Wild Coast event prior to this week's tournament.
"I've played three events here to acclimatise and try to get back into shape," said the Cork professional. "My game is coming around because I just wasn't at the races at qualifying school last year, very stale. My left hand is fine now I've had the piece of bone out, and I feel I'm getting there. I just need to be patient and it will happen."
Seven Irishmen in all take on, the might of players such as Price, tournament favourite Ernie Els' and Ian Woosnam. They are Harrington, Darcy, Smyth, McHenry, Raymond Burns, Ronan Rafferty and David Higgins.
For Higgins, being in the field is just reward after going determinedly to Johannesburg as second reserve. "I got the last place which was great, because I didn't want to be just hanging around," said Higgins, who made the cut last week in Australia and made money with a brave finish for 37th place. "Now I have to make my stroke of luck count."
"The course is playing long, but I can still get up to all the par fives in two, so I am feeling good," said Els, who was second in the amateur as a teenager, fourth in the SA Open as an amateur in 1989 and sixth in the 1993 Open.
