PHILIP WALTON could recognise the familiar signs. The surreptitious nods, winks and grins from his European Tour rivals while the rumour factory worked overtime with reports of players ripping the course apart. He was back at the pro-am for the £108,000 Smurfit Irish Professional Championship, this time preparing to defend the title on the splendid, if decidedly wet, terrain of Slieve Russell starting this morning.
Having returned to Northern Ireland 12 months ago for a highly successful and ideally timed staging at Belvoir Park, the event has now come to a sort off geographical half way house, only, a short distance on the southern side of the Border with Fermanagh. And a strong field of 93 will be competing for a record first prize of £16,600, while even the 33rd placed finisher will receive a four figure cheque.
"It's a very special week for those of us on the tour," said the holder. "You can sense the players eyeing each other up, trying to assess form And just to add that extra bite, there's always the wind up about somebody playing out of his skin. I really enjoy it."
There will be 10 former winners in action Walton, Darren Clarke, David Jones, Des Smyth, Martin Sludds, Eamonn Darcy, Paddy McGuirk, Hugh Jackson and the veterans, Ernie Jones and Christy Greene. In fact, Jones won the first of his two titles as far back as 1955 at Castletroy, and Greene triumphed at Clandeboye the following year.
Given the presence off a strong contingent of European Tour players, the question arises as to the realistic chance of success by a club professional. "I think one of the home based boys could cause a bit of a surprise this year, said Hermitage professional Ciaran Carroll, one suspected more in hope than expectation.
Liam Higgins was the last such player to take the title, at Woodbrook in 1983, when he capitalised on a disastrous finish by David Feherty who drove out of bounds at the treacherous 18th. In should be noted, however, that Higgins had considerable tournament experience prior to that, including a victory in the Kenya Open.
Headfort's Brendan McGovern shot a closing round of 65 to finish fourth at Belvoir Park last year for a reward of £4,500, but he, too, has had a fair sprinkling of European Tour experience. While there are clearly some fine ball strikers among the home based players, they lack the consistency, especially with the putter, to seriously threaten their brethren on the European scene.
Of these, Clarke looks certain to stage a particularly strong challenge. Winner of the title at Galway Bay in 1994, he determined that his first look at Slieve Russell would give him adequate preparation. So he arrived here on Monday and enlisted the help of resident professional Liam McCool, a one time colleague at boys level.
"Liam showed me the ropes and I feel I have a good knowledge of the course," said Clarke yesterday. In fact he worked particularly hard on Tuesday, when the task of "getting my short game into shape" had him hitting balls from nine in the morning until 7.30 in the evening. "This is the start of an important run of eight tournaments for me and I want to get into the right, competitive frame of mind," he explained.
As part of that strategy. Clarke has brought his caddie, Billy Foster, over from England. And in planning their strategy for a long and demanding stretch, they paid special attention to the 529 yard 13th, where a newly located green means that both the drive and second shot have to be hit over water to set up the chance of an eagle.
Having "killed" a drive into the wind during practice, Clarke still had 235 yards to the pin, a distance he managed to negotiate with an equally dwell struck three wood. "It's a fine hole," he said. "In fact I'm very impressed with the course overall. I, feel I can do well here."
Clarke's daunting schedule will take him from Slieve Russell to, the Spanish Open, then to the Benson and Hedges International, the Volvo PGA Championship, the Deutsche Bank Open and the English Open. After the Forest of Arden, he heads for the US Open at Oakland Hills and will complete the current stint at the BMW International Open in Munich.
In yesterday's conditions, with a chilly, northerly wind accompanied by long periods of rain, he had a clear advantage in length over the vast majority of his rivals. But the expectation is that if these conditions persist, the organisers will move the tees forward to less punishing positions, reducing the overall length of the course from 7,013 yards to about 6,800. Even at that, Slieve Russell would be no picnic.
By any standards, it is a fine course which was built to the highest standards. That much was evident in the quality of the drainage which coped comfortably with yesterday's rain. Mean while, the testing, undulating greens remained admiralty consistent, though understandably lacking the desired pace for an event of this nature.
For a variety of reasons, several of the country's tournament players are absent this week. Ronan Rafferty and Feherty opted for the conflicting Italian Open at Bergamo, where Paul McGinley is also competing with a view to enhancing his chances of an exemption into the British Open. And the importance of protecting their tour cards has led Padraig Harrington, John McHenry, Francis Howley and David Higgins to make the same decision.
Yet it remains a strong field, in which the list of former champions is augmented by such as Christy O'Connor Jnr, Eoghan O'Connell and Jimmy Heggarty.
The general feeling is that Smyth is the player to beat, given his impressive form in recent weeks, including a strong challenge for the Madeira Open.
But the conditions are remarkably similar to those at Galway Bay two years ago, when Clarke's formidable power became a key factor. That, added to his intensive preparation here this week, suggests that the Dungannon player may get the boost in confidence he is seeking for difficult, upcoming assignments.
