Young course is a mature challenge

GOLF: Ah, to be sure, life isn't always a bed of roses writes Philip Reid at the K Club

While many of the elite players are cossetted in five-star luxury in the hotel a mere stroll across the bridge over the River Liffey, and those who aren't can avail of courtesy cars, yesterday's first round of the €3.3 million Smurfit European Open at the K Club proved that, once there, the demands of life on the course can be a tough old grind. It's not all smoked salmon, caviar and champagne, you know.

Yesterday, as anticipated, was one such day. On a course brand new to tournament play, where an element of the unknown added to the difficulty, players were buffeted by a stiff wind which at times developed into squalls of rain. Consequently, a player's capacity for creative shot-making and, in tandem with his caddie, to make the proper club selection proved to be of paramount importance.

It was a day, as it were, to batten down the hatches and survive.

Of course, where there is a will, there is often a way, and three players in particular defied the conditions. Paul Broadhurst, Maarten Lafeber and Nick O'Hern shot rounds of five-under-par 67 to share the first round lead, and there were still 22 sub-par rounds handed into the recorder's cabin by day's end.

But no fewer than four players failed to complete their rounds, citing reasons from groin strains to wrist injuries or, in Thomas Bjorn's case, to feeling "out of sorts" (he did start with four bogeys in five holes), and two others withdrew after suffering for the duration.

Too tough? Most players preferred to keep their lips buttoned, and others simply confessed to it being "difficult".

However, because of the weather forecast, tournament director David Garland had moved forward a number of tees - on the fifth, seventh and 16th holes - to ease the pain to some degree. As Colin Montgomerie put it, "You can't win anything on a Thursday, you can only lose it. You have to hang on in there, and that's what it was about today."

Rather ominously for the first round leaders, one of those in closest pursuit was US Open champion Retief Goosen, who was in a four-way tie for fourth, two strokes adrift, after compiling a round of 69 despite a confession that he felt "a bit brain dead" for the first few holes.

"If you hit the wrong shape, you can end up a long way from the hole and these greens are so big that if you hit the wrong side, you're in trouble. Overall, I'm happy," said Goosen.

Would he take three 69s? "You'd win by quite a few," responded Goosen. "We've put ourselves into position, let's see if we can keep it up."

If some struggled, many players did find a way to combat the elements. For instance, Jose Manuel Lara - who turned in five-over - proved that perseverance can have its own reward by reeling off five successive birdies, from the 10th, to rescue his round and provide inspiration to others. And Broadhurst, one of the co-leaders, had a run from the sixth that went birdie-eagle-par-birdie-birdie that proved the course was conquerable.

"There are the right amount of guys under par," insisted Padraig Harrington, who shot 70 to lie alongside Paul McGinley at the head of the home challenge, "and that is reflecting a good challenge. The course is certainly playable, there is no question about that."

Harrington, at least, managed to leave himself lurking in close proximity to the leaders. "I'm very pleased, it's a score that keeps me right in there for the rest of the week," he contended. "I hit the ball lovely all the way through . . . there are things with my swing that I feel I have to work on, but I don't need to. I'd be quite comfortable to play with what I've got. I don't want to change anything, I'll leave it as it is . . . it's not perfect, and I'm struggling in the right-to-left winds, but it is adequate. I've no need to tinker with it at the moment."

Arguably the pivotal moment for Harrington was a par save - on the first, his 10th hole - rather than one of his birdies, four of which were of the tap-in variety from inside 12 inches.

On the first, a par four of 449 yards which ranked as the toughest hole of the first round averaging 4.46, Harrington's drive was pushed into the right rough from where he could only move it down the fairway still 50 yards short of the green.

He pitched to eight feet and holed the putt, immediately erasing the memory of a missed putt for birdie from a similar length on the 18th. "That was a disappointing par, because it felt like a bogey. That's why the putt on the first was so important."

If Harrington entertained hopes of challenging over the remaining three rounds, Darren Clarke could only ponder on how cruel the game can be at times, and especially to him. After shooting an opening 76, he immediately headed to the practice range but claimed that the belly putter would probably remain in his bag, despite a bizarre four-putt from just off the green on the sixth.

"It's no better and no worse (than the short putter)," remarked Clarke, who also thinned a bunker shot over the green into the water on his way to a triple bogey seven on the 16th. "I'm making mistakes and paying the penalty . . . it is the same story every time."

And Clarke's experiences yesterday adequately demonstrated the fickleness of a course that takes with one hand and gives with the other. For sure, nobody can allow their guard to drop, whether they're chasing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow or those merely seeking to survive the cut.