Diplomacy doesn't come quite so easily to 20-year-olds, especially when they happen to be speaking in a foreign language. So it was that Sergio Garcia admitted yesterday that the Old Course wouldn't have been his venue of choice for the defence of the £1 million Murphy's Irish Open, starting this morning.

In fairness to the young Spaniard, his thinking had much to do with happy memories from Druids Glen, where he had his breakthrough victory as a professional last year. But one suspects there are quite a number of his competitive colleagues who are decidedly apprehensive about tackling a links which is clearly justifying its status as one of the best in the world.

Indeed it is fascinating how the various assessments over the years from Tom Watson are being reiterated by his present-day brethren. "There is nowhere good to miss the green here," said New Zealander Greg Turner. "If we played a course as testing as this every week, our season would have to end in August," said Padraig Harrington.

For his part, Garcia said: "Maybe I don't feel as comfortable here as I did at Druids Glen. With three, four or five irons in your hands, some of the greens are nearly impossible to hit."

It is only against the background of such comments that one can appreciate what a superb decision it was of the sponsors to bring the showpiece of Irish golf to this place. The comment of an elderly member that he had never seen the course so beautifully presented, can be translated into stunning television images which will do wonders for the country's golfing image abroad.

This is one of those special occasions when quality can be presented to the world, without need of qualification. When the pre-tournament tempo was raised in yesterday's pro-am, competitors came to the rather distressing conclusion that the only way to successfully attack brilliantly-constructed greens, is from the middle of the fairway. Competitors at Augusta National have long since been forced to the same conclusion.

At Ballybunion, however, the crucial difference is that there are no bale-out areas. Miss a green left or right, and shot-making skills are stretched to the limit if par is to be attained. Darren Clarke, whose only previous experience of the course was in a friendly round with former amateur colleague Eoghan O'Connell some years ago, likened the challenge to the crowned greens of Pinehurst No 2, set on links terrain.

All of which would not have been designed to lift the confidence of the Tyrone man, whose timing has been awry since a third-round 83 in the US Open two weeks ago.

Dismissing his status as the logical, 6 to 1 favourite here, he said: "I wouldn't put a penny on myself at 6 to 1. In fact, I wouldn't back myself at 60 to 1." Clarke added: "I'm physically and mentally tired and my plan is to have a relaxing week."

Of course it could all be a devious ploy at deflecting attention from leading home challengers such as himself and Harrington. Either way, the attention is being focused firmly on Spaniards Miguel Angel Jimenez and Jose Maria Olazabal. In the context of an emphasis on short-game skills in pre-tournament assessments, we are reminded of the long shadow cast by the most illustrious of all Spaniards, Seve Ballesteros.

Four top-10 finishes, including a share of second place in the US Open, has helped Jimenez to handsome takings of £460,830 so far this season. And his prospects this week brightened considerably yesterday when he felt sufficiently recovered from threatened flu to have lunch in the clubhouse. Still, it will be difficult to make a clear assessment until he actually plays in the opening round this morning.

Robert Karlsson, the tall, athletic Swede who narrowly missed a place in last year's Ryder Cup team for Brookline, loved the quality of the greens: "I haven't putted on any surfaces that were better than these," he said.

In yesterday's pro-am, the pace was moderate on the level, but decidedly intimidating down the numerous slopes. On that basis, and the expectation that the wind may freshen over the weekend, he discounted the likelihood of low scoring. Would an aggregate of eight under par be enough? "Eight under par will win by four shots," he replied.

Meanwhile, the texture of the rough can be gauged from the experience of a pro-am competitor whose drive down the first pitched off the fairway and couldn't be found by eight people. And he had the same experience down the second.

But as Harrington pointed out: "Even if you manage to get enough club on the ball to reach the green, you have no chance of staying on the putting surface, because you're coming across them. And they're not meant to be played that way." Which is why the late Payne Stewart, after a visit here two years when he holed in one at the 16th, described Ballybunion as the best secondshot course he had ever played.

Garcia, who followed a third-place finish in the Buick Classic with a share of 46th in the US Open, agreed with Karlsson regarding the likely target. "I like a course where the winning aggregate is between level par and 10 under," he said. And almost by way guaranteeing such an outcome, he went on: "When I wake up in the morning, I hope the wind is blowing. I like the wind, maybe at 20 to 25 m.p.h.."

The latter comment was accompanied by a boyish grin. Perhaps he's not familiar with the old adage that you should be careful what you pray for because you just might get it. Either way, it can be taken that his more experienced colleagues will have a different prayer on their lips.

The fact is that the tightness of the fairways - often around 25 yards - is going to cause horrendous problems if the wind freshens. Otherwise, Olazabal, who won at Portmarnock in 1990 when the driving areas were considerably more generous, would appear to have the game to capture the title for a second time.

Harrington proved at Pebble Beach that he too has wonderful touches around the greens, even though he protests, rather unconvincingly, that his short game is not as good as it was five years ago.

But nobody would argue with the words of New Zealander Turner who, with typical bluntness, said of the forthcoming test: "You'd better not leave any of your game in the locker-room."