GOLF/2003 Irish Open: If, at one point during the summer, it was feared the Irish Open was an endangered species, no one at the top table at yesterday's announcement in one of Dublin's plushest hotels - where it was confirmed one of the oldest tournaments on the European Tour would be returning to its spiritual home at Portmarnock under a new sponsor in Nissan Ireland - was betraying any evidence to suggest that its survival was ever anything other than certain.
There wasn't a worried brow in sight, and the grins from each of the heavyweights clustered together around the tiny table said it all: the championship was not only saved, but it was moving to a new date - immediately after the British Open, from July 24th-27th - and to a world famous course where it would have a bigger prize purse of €2 million. Could it get any better than that?
Indeed, as Ken Schofield, the executive director of the European Tour, was keen to point out, the status of the Irish Open as one of the tour's prime titles was reflected in the fact that the full schedule for the 2003 season was deferred until the tour could confirm the tournament's future.
"We felt it was worth waiting," said Schofield. "It gives a signal to everyone as to how important the Irish Open is to us. To be honest, we're as delighted as anyone that things have turned out the way they have."
So the Irish Open will return to its birthplace. Portmarnock was the inaugural venue - in 1927 - for the championship, and it has staged the event more often than any other course. However, it is the arrival of Nissan as title sponsors, in succession to Murphy's who ended their nine-year tenure after this year's tournament in Fota Island, that has effectively ensured the tournament's survival.
Gerard O'Toole, the executive chairman of Nissan Ireland, recalled how he first fell in love with the Irish Open when, like many others, he packed his sandwiches and headed off to see it in its Woodbrook days. But his decision to take on the role as title sponsor had nothing to do with sentimentality, rather sound business sense.
"I believe it is justifiable in terms of the exposure we will get," he explained.
The company has signed a contract - believed to be for three years - and O'Toole said Nissan were in for the medium haul, which "could be two years, or could be 10 years".
It was O'Toole's suggestion that Portmarnock be approached to stage the tournament, and, once that approach was made, things moved so swiftly the whole deal has been sealed within two weeks.
Next year's Irish Open has been given the date vacated by the Dutch Open, who are currently without a sponsor and who have been given a new week in October. The new date for the Irish Open means it no longer runs back-to-back with the European Open and, appetisingly, given that it immediately follows the British Open, opens up the possibility of some of the top American players staying on to play one of golf's finest links.
In keeping with the policy of Murphy's in latter years, there will be no cheque book inducements in the form of appearance fees to tempt any of the Americans to play.
"There'll be no appearance money," confirmed David Linnane, the tournament director. "We'd hope to be in a position to attract players with the mix that we have. The Tour is fully behind the tournament. The course is a special one. And we have a good, blue chip sponsor."
It is not beyond the bounds of possibility, however, that other subtler approaches could be made to increase the strength of the field. The likes of JP McManus or Dermot Desmond, who have established special relationships with some of the world's top players, including Tiger Woods, David Duval and Mark O'Meara, could well use their friendships with such players to entice them to play.
Certainly, the course, now lengthened to 7,350 yards, will be different from that which last staged an Irish Open in 1990, when Jose Maria Olazabal emerged victor. Joe Leyden, the club captain, estimated that it would play possibly "two shots harder" as a result of the programme that has been in operation for the past six years.
In that time, much of the poa annua has been replaced by traditional fescue bent grasses, a number of new tees have been constructed - adding some 300 yards in length - and new run-offs have been created at the 13th and 16th holes. The first hole is being rebuilt to bring the estuary more into play.
Unlike the last occasion that a major professional tournament was held in Portmarnock when land at what is now the new Portmarnock Links course next door was used, car parking around the club will be restricted and a "park and ride" system, similar to that which traditionally operates at British Open venues, will be used.
Crowds for the first two rounds will be limited to 25,000 daily and increased to 30,000 each day at the weekend, but Leyden emphasised that the "links terrain will be safeguarded as much as possible" so the course would not be damaged.
