Harrington to strike opening blow by the sea

With typical directness, Colin Montgomerie acknowledged the superiority of a forbidding foe. "I shot 81 - which was about average," said the Scot of his previous visit to the Ocean Course for the 1991 Ryder Cup. Now, in more benign circumstances, he is back for the $1.5 million World Cup starting today.

As it happens, the opening shot will be played by Padraig Harrington as Ireland go into action off the first tee at 8.15 a.m., local time. He and partner Paul McGinley will be paired with Ryder Cup player Thomas Bjorn and little known Danish colleague, Knud Storgaard Jensen.

Though there are only 64 competitors, representing 32 countries, the organisers have decided to use two-tee starts. This is a tacit acceptance of the curse of slow play which, in World Cup terms, means six-hour rounds.

But that wasn't what Montgomerie had on his mind when he contemplated the impending challenge as Scotland's paterfamilias to Raymond Russell. "I never thought I would be back," added the player, who came from five down at the turn and four down with four to play to gain an amazing, halved match with Mark Calcavecchia.

Montgomerie went on: "I see Bernhard Langer (who missed a crucial, six-foot putt on the last green against Hale Irwin) hasn't come back. Good for him. No doubt as soon as he heard the words `Ocean Course', he thought `My God!' and the nightmares returned."

The Scot readily acknowledged, however, that the challenge is now somewhat gentler. Apart from playing off "middle" tees which reduce the overall length by about 400 yards, the greens and fairways are softer and, consequently, much more receptive. "It has settled down," he said. "The same thing happened to the TPC at Sawgrass, which is now a lot less difficult than it was originally."

Meanwhile, his appearance here says much for Montgomerie's commitment after a demanding season that saw him become Europe's number one for an unprecedented fifth successive year. "There would be something odd about it if I didn't feel tired," he said. "Those sort of achievements never come easy."

He then explained the extensive, consultative process he engaged in before arriving at the decision to remain a European campaigner, as opposed to joining Nick Faldo in the US. "Effectively, it came down to whether I felt I could win a major while staying in Europe," he said.

"With that in mind, I sought the advice of several people, including Mark McCormack, Johnny Miller and Nick Faldo. They all said more or less the same thing, which was that it depended basically on how I felt about it myself.

"McCormack insisted `Yes, you can'. Then there was the family to consider, and with a baby due in May, a move to the States would make things very difficult. For a while, the odds were that I would probably make the move. But now that I've taken the decision not to, I know I can win a major from Europe."

So, we could expect him to be at Druids Glen next July defending the Murphy's Irish Open title he has won for the last two seasons? "Yes, I'm defending the Irish," he replied. Then with a smile: "Indeed. I always do that."

There are four survivors here from the 1991 Ryder Cup, the others being Ian Woosnam and the English pairing of Mark James and Paul Broadhurst. And there are seven members of the recent Ryder Cup sides in action: Montgomerie, Woosnam, Bjorn, Ignacio Garrido, Per-Ulrik Johansson, Justin Leonard and Davis Love.

Indeed, the overall strength of the field is further emphasised by the presence of three of the four "major" winners from the season just past - Ernie Els (US Open), Leonard (British Open) and Love (USPGA Championship). As Montgomerie pointed out: "Looking at those names, this is a big tournament."

Watched by crowds of 30,000 at Erinvale last year, Els partnered Wayne Westner to a memorable World Cup triumph for South Africa and immediately promised to be back to defend it. He has been as good as his word.

Ireland (1958) and Wales (1987) are the only Home Countries to have captured the title. The closest Scotland came to success was in 1987 when Sandy Lyle and Sam Torrance were beaten in a play-off by Woosnam and David Llewel lyn.

The Irish partnership is clearly capable of capturing the trophy for a second time, but 10 years on, and with Montgomerie guiding their fortunes, the Scots may be set for an overdue break through.