Hopes fade for special K Club

By Brian Keogh

Hopes of a last hurrah for the European Open at the K Club's Ryder Cup course have taken a nose-dive.

European Tour boss George O'Grady wanted a farewell event on the Palmer Course next year following the loss of sponsors Smurfit Kappa.

But with K Club owner Dr Michael Smurfit only offering the newer Smurfit Course as a possible venue, the tour has gone off the idea.

Speaking at Valderrama O'Grady said: "If we want to go there, Dr Smurfit has made us welcome on the Smurfit Course.

"But I think the long term future is outside Ireland. We have a lot of interest in Britain and very strong venue interest.

"We also have a lot of potential partners and a sponsor ready to go."

O'Grady also hinted that the Seve Trophy was also a non-runner after this year's fiasco at the Heritage.

He said: "Ireland has been asked to do too much in a golfing sense and the Seve Trophy was a bridge too far.

"Anything coming after the Ryder Cup is a tough one. There is a limit to how much you can go to Ireland."

Talks on the future involvement of Failte Ireland in the Irish Open are on-going.

But O'Grady said: "Tom Kane from Adare has really got behind it. There is now a lot of commercial interest in the Irish Open."