Odds on even or better get Irish in the swing

DARREN CLARKE and Pádraig Harrington were at odds at The K-Club yesterday but only about the likely winning score in the €3.3m Smurfit European Open that gets underway over the splendid new South Course today.

Clarke declared he would accept level par "here and now". Informed that 25/1 was available for level par or worse to land the first prize of €550,000, he insisted: "That's a great bet. The course will definitely be the winner this week. The rough is thick, the wind is going to be the same strength as this all week, if not stronger, so it will be tough to make birdies and easy to make bogeys."

While accepting that the 7,313 yards Arnold Palmer-designed lay-out was a severe test in the prevailing conditions of strong, gusting winds and squally showers, Harrington reasoned that "they've gone soft on us".