A refreshed Westwood may be the man

The final test is at hand. This staging of the Smurfit European Open, which gets under way this morning, will be the last examination of The K Club as a prospective venue for the 2005 Ryder Cup before the European Tour make the crucial decision, probably before the end of the year.

Against that background, the ingredients are suitably impressive. A record prize fund of £1.5 million is more than double the pre-Smurfit figure of four years ago, when it became necessary to continue with the tournament in the absence of a title sponsor.

Small wonder that it has now attracted a field including 21 of the top 25 in the current European Order of Merit. Even more significant is that the line-up is headed by the top three - Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke and Colin Montgomerie.

An American presence became an attractive element of the first year under the current sponsors when Tom Lehman finished in a share of ninth place following the 1995 Ryder Cup. Now, Payne Stewart is to carry the banner for the United States, making a competitive return to this country after appearing in the 1991 Irish Open at Killarney.

Confronting them will be a course significantly tougher than 12 months ago, when Per-Ulrik Johansson retained the trophy by a six-stroke margin with a stunning 21-under-par aggregate of 267. Indeed the organisers made no secret of their determination that this should be so. Their handiwork is especially evident in the height and density of the rough, not only bordering the fairways but around the greens.

There are 14 Irish challengers including three players who have filled the role of tournament professional here - Clarke, Raymond Burns and the present incumbent, Paul McGinley. Their target will be to improve markedly on a somewhat disappointing outcome 12 months ago when the top home players were McGinley and Ronan Rafferty in a share of 14th place.

Westwood was an absentee on that occasion and his presence this week is something of a bonus, given that he was originally scheduled to play in the Sprint International, starting today in Denver. Like any self-respecting professional, he had no difficulty in rationalising his failure to make the cut in the USPGA Championship in Seattle last weekend. "It was nice to have a few days off and I'm now well-rested," said the Order of Merit leader.

Meanwhile, politicians will testify to the way words can come back to haunt. Only last month at Druids Glen Montgomerie was telling the world that he no longer felt the need of a coach. But, by the Scot's own admission yesterday, his first phone call on Sunday night was to former coach Bill Ferguson, to talk through his USPGA swing problems.

Sahalee was an especially painful experience. Rounds of 70 and 67 placed him very much in contention for a long-awaited "major" breakthrough, but under the pressure of the so-called "moving day", his challenge crumbled in a dispiriting 77. After that, a closing 74 was of no more than academic interest.

Refreshingly candid, Montgomerie has never been afraid to paint a forthright view of the world as he sees it. So we had him dismissing the notion of leading the Order of Merit for a sixth successive year.

No doubt his views would undergo a hasty reappraisal at Montecastillo on November 1st, were he to find himself on top of the table once more. But for the moment, he's not interested. "Hopefully, there's nothing left for me to prove in Europe," he said.

Westwood and Clarke will be delighted to hear it. "To be about £120,000 or whatever in front of Monty at this time of year has got to be good," said the Englishman, who has won three times in Europe this season, most recently in the Loch Lomond Invitational.

But he seems to doubt the likelihood of Montgomerie handing him the title on a plate. When asked to nominate his target-figure, Westwood replied: "I don't have a target-figure in mind. Just £1 more than Monty will do me."

With current funds estimated in excess of £5 million, Montgomerie is not strapped for cash. And financial pressure is eased considerably for Westwood by his batchelor status. But what of Clarke, who is now having to cope with fatherhood after the recent arrival of first-born son, Tyrone?

"First prize (£208,300 Stg) is an awful lot of money and it offers the chance of getting right back into the Order of Merit race," he said. "If someone other than us three wins, it's going to make a big difference. So, if I don't win, I'd prefer Payne Stewart to take away the big money."

There is a tendency among visiting club golfers to characterise The K Club as a long-hitters' course, because it is clearly long by their standards. But modern professionals, even those of moderate power, have no such problems.

So it is that Bernhard Langer and Johansson, who would not be rated among the game's power players, have dominated the event for the last three years. In the context of this venue, their most valuable asset has been admirably precise iron play while the Swede obviously putted brilliantly last year, particularly in a course record-equalling second round of 64.

Padraig Harrington, who carded a 65 here two years ago, has those sort of skills. So has McGinley. On the international stage, however, Westwood has been better than most, when winning chances have presented themselves.