THE European Tour carnival may have moved on to fresh pastures but for the staff left behind at the Irish Open’s host venue there is still plenty of work to do.

ON any golf course, what you want are two tough finishing holes.

THE more putts that dropped, the more the crowd swelled around Colm Moriarty. This, he said to himself, is where he wants to be.

ROSS FISHER did not turn up at Killarney 12 months ago to spoil the party.

ON A course he says is cruel to a golf buggy’s batteries, John Paramor may be inflicting considerable pain on his cart at Killarney Golf & Fishing Club this week.

APPEARANCE money had been a major problem for the European Tour for a decade or more by the time the Irish Open first came to Kerry in 1991.

WHEN Europe’s leading touring professionals show up at the first tee on Killarney Golf & Fishing Club’s Killeen Course in the last week of July, it will not be business as usual.

GIVEN the success of last year’s Irish Open, repeating the feat this summer would be a tall order in anyone’s book but Killarney Golf & Fishing Club general manager Maurice O’Meara is optimistic there is still room for improvement.

MEMBERS of Killarney Golf & Fishing Club who feared the withdrawal of 3 as sponsors of the Irish Open would set the club back €1 million can rest easy.

THE final leaderboard at the 3 Irish Open had a significant impact on the shape of Europe’s Ryder Cup team with the showdown against the United States at Celtic Manor now just eight weeks away.

THE chief executive of Irish Open sponsors 3 is remaining tight lipped over the venue – and timing – for next year’s event.

GRAEME McDOWELL is going to dinner with Pádraig Harrington this week as he needs to talk to him about his lack of focus since winning the US Open.

“THE Irish Open has regained its status as one of the premier events on the European Tour.”

IRELAND’S hopes of keeping the 3 Irish Open title at home for the third time in four years remain extremely bright at the halfway stage of the €3 million tournament at Killarney.

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON’S reputation as one of golf’s greatest scramblers may have been in jeopardy prior to yesterday’s second round of the 3 Irish Open at Killarney.

IT’S not just the storms of winter or the drought of early summer that have caused problems for David MacIndoe, the course superintendent at Killarney Golf & Fishing Club.

CHAMPIONSHIP Director Ben Watson expects crowds in excess of 70,000 for the 3 Irish Open that starts over the Killeen Course at Killarney on Thursday.

IT was a glorious day when we assembled at the Killarney Golf & Fishing Club for the 3 Irish Open media day.

Rory McIlroy has been confirmed to take part in the 3 Irish Open at the Killarney Golf and Fishing Club from July 29 - August 1.

THE remarkable 15-year-old Cavan twins Lisa and Leona Maguire have been all the rage in Irish ladies golf for several years and will represent Britain & Ireland in the Curtis Cup against the United States next month.

MICHELLE KIELY, a second year student from the National College of Art and Design, has won the competition to design the trophy for this year’s ‘3’ Irish Open at the Killeen course, Killarney (July 29 to August 1).

IT WAS only after “robust discussions” between sponsors ‘3’ and the European Tour that the August Bank Holiday was agreed as the date for next year’s Irish Open Golf Championship to be played for the third time over the Killeen Course at Killarney.

WITH Tiger Woods set to lead a stellar field in the 5th JP McManus Pro-Am at Adare Manor in early July and the 3 Irish Open coming back to Killarney a few weeks later, the summer months of 2010 promise everything golfers in the southern part of the country could wish for.

A €6.5 MILLION investment in two Kerry golf clubs is expected to lure more golfers to the county.

GOOD enough to host the Irish Open on a couple of occasions in the early 1990s, the Killeen Course at Killarney, as we used to know it, is no more.

THE DONALD Steel-designed Lackabane course at Killarney hosts the first European Challenge Tour event in the Republic of Ireland over the next four days with the arrival of the Ireland Ryder Cup Challenge.