North West is dropped

The demise of the North West of Ireland Open means there will be no European Challenge Tour event in Ireland this year.

Yesterday's release by the PGA European Tour of the schedule for 2003 confirmed that the North West - a trail-blazing tournament that was a "dual badge" event with prize money counting for both the full tour and the secondary circuit - is no more, a casualty of the fight to keep the Irish Open itself alive.

The North West - an event first started in 1999, when Ryder Cup player Costantino Rocca won at Galway Bay - was a casualty in the battle to ensure the Irish Open's survival. Although Nissan assumed the title sponsorship from Murphy's for the Irish Open, Bord Fáilte (who previously bankrolled the North West) were forced to redirect finances to assume a higher profile with the Irish Open as associate sponsors.

In the bean counting that ensued, the North West - which last year was played at Ballyliffin - lost out.

However, players like Stephen Browne, who has a full card on the Challenge Tour this year, can plan for a longer campaign as the circuit will visit no fewer than 21 countries, starting next week with the Tour de las Americas in Costa Rica, the first of three events to be played in Latin America.

There is also an extended circuit for the European Seniors Tour, which has three new tournaments - one in Belgium and two in England - on its itinerary. The Seniors will also start their schedule in warmer climes, with the first three tournaments taking place in the Caribbean. The first tournament to be played in Europe will be the AIB Irish Seniors Open which returns to Adare Manor on May 16th-18th.

The Senior British Open has been upgraded to a full senior major, with prize money also counting towards the Champions Tour (US Seniors Tour). Having been played at Royal Portrush and latterly Royal County Down in recent years, the Senior Open returns to Turnberry in Scotland this year. The tour this year has also been arranged to avoid any clashes with the other majors, the US PGA and the US Senior Open.

Meanwhile, this week's Singapore Open will feature three Irish players. Gary Murphy, who won his card at the tour school, secured a top-15 finish in the Dunhill Championship last weekend to follow his top-10 finish in the South African Open and has moved to 30th in the Order of Merit. He seeks to continue his good start to the season in Singapore, where other Irish entries are Dubliner Peter Lawrie and Wexford's Damien McGrane.

While Murphy has left South Africa after two productive weeks, Darren Clarke has chosen the Dimension Data Pro-Am in Sun City this week to make his seasonal debut. Unlike the South African Open and the Dunhill, this event is not co-sanctioned by the European Tour and only counts on the Southern Africa Tour.

Although Clarke is planning on making a raid on the event, there are other Irish players competing, with Padraig Dooley, Tim Rice and James Loughane also in the field. The event is a pro-am format played over two courses, the Gary Player and the Lost City.

Raymond Burns, Gavin McNeill and Ciaran McMonagle are attempting to qualify for the event - nine places are available from their pre-qualifying at Benoni - but play was suspended yesterday due to lightning and they will complete their rounds today.