DES SMYTH will not be making a formal complaint to the European Tour about an horrendous pin position on the 18th green at Campo de Golfe, where four putts destroyed his winning chance in the Madeira Open last Sunday. It is not that "Smyth is averse to such action; he simply feels the matter will be well aired by other victims.
As it happens, Smyth has already written to the tour this season regarding what he considers to be the worsening problem of slow play. "With some guys, particularly the younger ones, taking up to five and a half hours for a round, we are willingly accommodating the slowest players in the world," he said yesterday.
He was at his home outside Drogheda, licking his wounds after failing to secure an eighth victory on the European Tour and his first since the Madrid Open of October 1993. "Obviously I'm bitterly disappointed," he said. "Instead of being involved in a play off for the title, I was pushed back into a share of third place.
Smyth went on: "In different circumstances I might be concerned about losing my nerve, but I'm pragmatic enough to know that this was a situation in which the organisers made a terrible mistake. From a putting standpoint, I have never before seen such a difficult pin placement. If there had been a wind, the green would have been unplayable."
"I was in shock walking off the green and it was only later that I discovered the extent of the problem for other players. For instance, John McHenry was one of the first competitors onto the green on Sunday and he, too, had four putts. And there was a young kid on eight under par who was anxious to get into the top 10 so he'd be eligible for the Cannes Open, but he five putted."
Smyth, who had made splendid saves from five feet at the 16th and two and a half feet at the 17th, earned £13,196 to move up to 28th position in the Order of Merit. He is now taking three weeks off, which means he will not be returning to European action until the Turespana Masters in Valencia on April 25th-28th.
After that, he will be among an impressive group of professionals competing in the Audi sponsored Chris de Burgh Classic at The K Club on Monday, April 29th. Bernard Gallacher, skipper of the victorious European team at Oak Hill last September, will be there with the Ryder Cup. And he will be accompanied by team members, Ian Woosnam and Philip Walton, quite apart from other leading Irish professionals.
In keeping with tradition, the tournament has also attracted a strong celebrity line up, including Ian Botham, Eddie Jordan and Kenny Dalglish. Details of this, the sixth staging of this charity event organised by the Links Society, were announced in Dublin last night.
Meanwhile, the new Players' champion, Fred Couples, has been installed joint favourite with Colin Montgomerie and Greg Norman for this year's US Masters, which starts at Augusta National a week on Thursday. Ladbrokes have the trio at odds of 14 to 1. Other odds are: 16 to 1 Nick Faldo and Ernie Els; 20 to 1 Tom Lehman, Bernhard Langer, Phil Mickelson, Corey Pavin, Nick Price, Steve Elkington and Davis Love.
Success at Sawgrass represented a crucial change of fortune for Couples, who had not won on the USPGA Tour since the Buick Open at Warwick Hills on August 7th, 1994. Granted, he had European Tour victories since then in Dubai and Manila in January of last year, and went on to capture the Johnnie Walker World Championship in a play off with Loren Roberts and Vijay Singh in Jamaica last December.
Recurring back problems, however, pushed him down to a final position of 63rd in the US money list for last season, his lowest since 1986 when he was 76th. In fact, Couples was top of the money list in 1992 after three tournament victories - the Los Angeles Open, the Nestle Invitational and his lone "major" success, the US Masters.
The fine showing of Montgomerie in sharing second place, albeit four strokes back, has made him the great European hope for the Masters, now that Jose Maria Olazabal has withdrawn, Seve Ballesteros is struggling with back problems and Faldo missed the cut at Sawgrass.
By collecting over £200,000 for a share of second place with Tommy Tolles, the Scot brought his earnings to roughly £310,000 from his first two tournaments of the year, given his victory in Dubai last month. That works out at a staggering £570 for every shot he has hit.
He finished 37th on his Augusta debut in 1992; was 52nd the following year; missed the cut in 1994 but finished an impressive 17th last year. "I have played as well as anyone from tee to green so I'm just going to putt, putt, putt in practice," he said.
