Irish trio in US `major'

Life begins at 50, and a trio of Irish professionals who are experiencing a rejuvenation of their game on the seniors' circuit will get the opportunity to contend for a major in the United States this week.

Christy O'Connor jnr, Eddie Polland and David Jones have all taken up invites to play in the US PGA Seniors' Championship at the PGA National course at Palm Beach in Florida, starting on Thursday. Indeed, there is a rich irony in that the $1.5 million purse is the richest any of these players will have contested in their careers.

Hale Irwin, who dominated the US Seniors Tour last year, is seeking to retain his title - but an indication of the growing strength of the European challenge in this particular growth industry is that eight players from this side of the Atlantic will be chasing the greenbacks: O'Connor Jnr, Polland, Jones, Brian Barnes, Jose Maria Canizares, Bernard Gallacher, Tommy Horton and Tony Jacklin.

The European Seniors Tour doesn't commence until the Beko Classic in Turkey next May (although there is now a doubt about that event taking place) which means the European players, in the main, enter the Palm Beach "major" at a disadvantage with their American counterparts who have been on active duty for almost three months.

Meanwhile, four Irish players will be in action in the Macau Open on the Asian PGA Tour this week. Undoubtedly the biggest name is Darren Clarke - who is joined by his IMS stablemate Lee Westwood - and he will be joined by Richie Coughlan, Peter Lawrie and Bryan Omelia.

Clarke could do with a lift at the present time. He has dropped to 18th in the latest world rankings (from 16th position last week) and is only marginally inside the top 70 on the European Tour Order of Merit and likely to fall outside that position this week given that he has opted to play in Asia rather than in Estoril.

While Clarke is seeking to find some confidence, the other Irish players are attempting to use the Asian circuit to develop their fledgling professional games. Lawrie and Omelia departed for the Far East on Friday and Coughlan headed off on Saturday for a seven-week stretch that will take in five tournaments.