Irish Open will take place

HE may not have a sponsor or a venue but Ken Schofield, executive director of the PGA European Tour, is adamant there will be an Irish Open in 2003.

In the normal course of events, Schofield would have been in a position to announce his full schedule for next year at some point of the season ending Volvo Masters at Valderrama. But he was admitted there are a few loose ends tie up.

And he didn’t attempt to hide the fact the Irish Open remained one of the major reasons for his delay. While he strongly hinted the sponsorship problem had diminished in recent times, he admitted they still had to come up with a venue.