Players baffled by Euro Open decision

CHANGE this decision or face the consequences.

That was the message last night for the European Tour and Dr Michael Smurfit as they came under severe pressure to alter their decision to stage the 2006 Smurfit European Open over The K-Club's Smurfit South Course rather than the Palmer North lay-out which will host the Ryder Cup three months later.

Padraig Harrington set the ball rolling when he described the move as "a big mistake" while European captain Ian Woosnam "wants to know the reasons" and his American counterpart Tom Lehman insisted that "they should be rethinking that decision."

The Ryder Cup committee feel that the gap between the European Open and the Ryder Cup wouldn't afford them enough time to get the Palmer course ready hence the switch.

Harrington said yesterday: "I think it's a big mistake not to play the European Open next year over the old course. The European players in the States would all travel over; I'd say you'd get some American players. I just thought it was a given. Three months is ample time to get a golf course ready for a tournament. You can build a green in three months. I just think it would be advantageous for everybody that we play the Ryder Cup course in next year's European Open.

"It happened before with the Benson & Hedges at The Belfry and maybe they'd claim that was in May and gave them time to get the course ready. But as any good green-keeper would tell you, two good weeks in the summer would sort out anything. Why wouldn't the Americans and those based over there come for three weeks? They'd have a ball."

European captain Ian Woosnam could find little wrong with that argument, saying "you want to gain as much advantage on the course as possible plus the fact that a few Americans might come as well would be great."

Tom Lehman, the US captain, commented: "It would surprise me greatly if the European Tour didn't want to get as many competitive rounds as possible over the Ryder Cup course. I can't believe they would not want to play the European Open on that course.

They should be rethinking that decision and if they do, then I will bring a bunch of my guys as well."

Then followed an eye opener from Lehman when he declared: "My players are going to be here at some point. We will spend three or four days here but I don't know when."

Never before has either team taken up residence at the venue well in advance of the matches. It certainly underlines how seriously the Americans are taking a confrontation which has seen them lose four of the last five meetings.

Graeme McDowell, widely regarded as a very strong candidate to make his Ryder Cup debut in 2006, also threw his weight behind the Palmer course.

"I'd much rather play this golf course any day of the week," he said. "I can understand why they're not doing it but it makes sense to have the team playing competitively on the match course near the event. I know they don't want the place beaten up before the Ryder Cup and the way the greens are this week ... I'm sure they're worried about them because they're not good. They're soft and they're cutting up badly. Still, this is by far the better track."

Jamie Birkmyre, the Tour's director of tournament development and director of the Smurfit European Open, understood the arguments but explained: "It's about the amount of time it takes to prepare a Ryder Cup course after a major tournament. Funnily enough, it's not the golf course itself, it's actually outside the ropes where, if you have a very wet week, it could be very tight to try and get the grass back again.

"We are starting to build the Ryder Cup course two weeks after the end of this tournament so infrastructure is a problem. I'm not saying there won't be a change in plan and I can see the positives for having the tournament over this course, sure I can. In fact, Dr Smurfit told me yesterday that he was under an amount of pressure from various people to play on this course.

But my view now is that it will be on the South course. A change is under consideration and it is not my decision. It is a matter for Ryder Cup Ltd."

One thing is certain if the European Tour passes up the chance of playing the European Open over the Ryder Cup course, and then come up short in the match itself, there will be hell to pay.