Ireland may host millennium World Cup

ONLY 10 years ago, the World Cup of Golf didn't take place because the organisers failed to come up with a sponsor. Now, with Ernie Els almost pleading for himself and Wayne Westner to be given the chance of defending the trophy for South Africa at Kiawah Island next year, the tournament has never been stronger.

Clearly, it was a master stroke bringing the event to this sports crazy country, where cumulative attendances of 81,262 at Erinvale, including 31,904 on Sunday, broke all previous records. And the decision to abandon the idea of a title sponsor, has opened the door to previously reluctant, subsidiary sponsors.

The Dunhill Cup, which, significantly, was launched in 1985, appeared destined to eclipse the World Cup. Now, the St Andrews event looks to be the more vulnerable, particularly with the world's five main tours adopting a global strategy for so called approved tournaments.

Agreement has been reached, in principle, between the European, USPGA, South African, Australasian and Japanese tours that there should be three approved international events, probably starting in 1998. These would have strokeplay, matchplay and team formats. At this stage, the front runners for those roles are the Sarazen World Open, the Andersen Consulting and the World Cup.

Meanwhile, Burch Riber, executive director of the International Golf Association which organises the World Cup, remains optimistic about bringing the event to Ireland, Arrangements for 1997 (Kiawah Island) and 1999 (Malaysia) are already completed and while 1998 has yet to be finalised, Riber ruled out Ireland for that year.

"I'm looking to a September date in the year 2000," he said. "In fact I can't think of a better way of celebrating the millennium.

Riber went on: "I have been striving for some years now to bring the World Cup to Ireland and the reaction from the various tours is encouraging. I would certainly love to do it before I retire."

Riber knows that Ireland is probably the only country where attendances could rival those at Erinvale over the weekend. And he is also aware that the staging of the Canada Cup, as it was then, at Portmarnock in 1960, was crucial towards the development of the tournament.

Against this background, it was clearly a big disappointment that Darren Clarke, and Padraig Harrington could finish no better than 19th on Sunday, despite a wonderful closing 64 by the Ulsterman.

Clearly, the mental strain of a remarkable debut season had eventually taken its toll on Harrington, particularly, in a final round of 78. And, it may have cost him the outside chance of taking the "Rookie of the Year" award ahead of Denmark's Thomas Bjorn.

Tour officials, who will be announcing the decision later this "week, have made it clear that the period under review is the golfing not simply the European season.

So, after finishing 11th to Bjorn's 10th in the final Order of Merit table, Harrington could still have come out on top with a strong World Cup performance.

In the event, he was tied 49th in the individual table, compared with Bjorn who shot rounds of 67,74,76,68 to share 10th place, while Denmark claimed a share of sixth position with Argentina.

Whatever, the outcome of this week's deliberations, Sunday's outcome was a bitter blow to Harrington on a personal level, not least for the fact that he has always taken tremendous pride in playing for his country. But in an Irish context, there was nothing new about his experience of finishing 14 strokes, behind Clarke.

For instance, in the 1985 tournament at La Quinta, Eamonn Darcy finished no fewer than 20 strokes behind his playing partner Christy O'Connor Jnr. And the same margin separated a rampant Darcy from Eddie Polland in 1976 at Palm Springs.

Both players have now completed their schedules for the year and in the battle for places on next year's Ryder Cup team, Clarke is fourth in the standings at this stage while Harrington is 19th. "I feel I'm halfway there and I know I'm capable of completing the job this time around," said Clarke, who narrowly missed qualification for the 1995 team.

He went on: "I'm a far better player now and I could, certainly feel it in the way I hit the ball during that 64 on Sunday. It was probably even better than the way I played when winning the German Masters last month, in that I was hitting my irons closer to the pin.

After something of a lull in his development as a player, doors are beginning to open for Clarke once more. Apart from gaining exemption into the US Open and British Open next year, he is also in line for a place in the European section of the lucrative Andersen Consulting World Championship in 1997.

"Selection is based on the Sony World Rankings and at the moment, I'm ahead of Lee Westwood for the last qualifying place," he said. "That would obviously be a nice bonus but my real target is the Ryder Cup. And I'm not concerned that I could be putting pressure on myself by talking this way. I intend to make the team: it's as simple as that."

As for the World Cup, South African celebrations carried on long into Sunday night. And there was no one happier than Els, who clearly takes enormous pride in his country. "The authorities should give Wayne and me a chance to defend next year, no matter how we re playing," he said.

He need have no worries on that count. Indeed the indications are that Els and Westner could surpass four times winners Fred Couples and Davis Love as the most successful partnership in the history of the tournament.