Pádraig on course to reign at K Club

HERE we are in the height of summer and preferred lies have already been agreed to for the €3.6 million Smurfit Kappa European Open, beginning over the Smurfit Course at The K Club this morning.

Tournament director Jamie Birkmyre of the European Tour arrived here three weeks ago. On that first day, the sun was shining. He reckons it hasn’t stopped raining ever since.

Leading Irish players like Paul McGinley fear it’s affecting the quality of the entry and spoke of how his Ryder Cup team-mate Miguel-Angel Jimenez told him recently that “I’ll have my feet up in 30 degrees back home in Spain smoking a cigar and sipping a Rioja while you fellows are playing golf in the rain.”