O'Connell given "wild card" late in the day

"TYPICAL", remarked tournament director Jamie Birkmyre, only half in jest, as he stood amidst the portacabins at The K Club, venue for the Smurfit European Open which starts on Thursday because of his comment was the Irish weather" which, as tournament time approaches, shows signs of a return to more traditional autumnal conditions.

Still, while the wind blustered over the Arnold Palmer designed parkland course by the River Liffey in Straffan yesterday, there was also some good tidings for a couple of Irish professionals who weren't expecting to be part of a contest which has £750,000 in prizemoney - an increase of £100,000 on last year - on offer.

Eoghan O'Connell, who has endured a summer of reflection and of "rebuilding his swing to its more natural state, and Gary Murphy, the former Irish amateur champion whose impressive appearance in the Murphy's Irish Open in July counted for nought when it transpired some weeks later that he had signed for a wrong score and wasn't entitled to any pay day, were both the recipients of sponsors' invites in to the event.

The late decision to give "wild card" entries to the duo was taken after it emerged than neither David Higgins, who has already secured his card for next season, nor Francis Howley required the sponsors' invites extended to them last week as they got into the tournament by their own achievements. The addition of O'Connell and Murphy to the field means 19 Irish players (including Irish amateur champion Peter Lawrie) will be competing.

So enthusiastic was UCD golfing scholarship student Lawrie to savour the atmosphere of playing in a European Tour event for the first time that he virtually owned a section of the lightly populated practice range yesterday. That area will be rather more densely populated when the foreign invasion starts in earnest today, with British Open champion Tom Lehman, defending champion Bernhard Langer, European number one Colin Montgomerie and Ian Woosnam all due to arrive.

Two men who won't be competing, however, are Christy O'Connor Jnr and Dallas based David Feherty, who informed the Tour earlier this month of his decision not to compete. O'Connor has been troubled by an arm injury for much of the season and only made the decision not to play last Saturday.

England's Chris Hall was the last competitor to withdraw yesterday, so when the entries were finalised it brought good news for Finland's Anssi Kankkonen and, also, Richard Dinsdale (Wales) and Robert Coles (England) who were promoted from the reserves list to fill two "wild cards" which had been held back. Another Englishman, Andrew Collison, is now first reserve and will play if anyone pulls out before Thursday's first round.

The field includes two of the top five players in the Sony World rankings Montgomerie, who is number two, and fifth placed Lehman - while there are just three absentees from the current top 25 in the European rankings, Mark McNulty, Frank Nobilo and Sam Torrance.

The 19 Irish players in the tournament are Ronan Rafferty, Philip Walton, Padraig Harrington, Paul McGinley, Eamonn Darcy, Des Smyth, Darren Clarke, Raymond Burns, Higgins, Howley, Damian McGrane, Brendan McGovern, Stephen Ham ill, Damian Mooney, Jimmy Heggarty, John McHenry, O'Connell. Murphy and Lawrie.

Robert Allenby - who has captured the English Open, French Open and British Masters titles already this season injured an ankle when tripping over a rut after the Loch Lomond Invitational on Sunday. Initial fears that he had suffered a broken bone were subsequently allayed, although he has a badly bruised ankle. However, he hopes the injury will have eased sufficiently to allow him compete at The K Club.

While the European Open will be the main focus of the week, there are an interesting number of side attractions and, at a time when professional golfers are often accused of being selfish by nature, it is worth noting that charities will be the main bodies to benefit from the various novel engagements being undertaken.

Firstly, a Charity Classic will be staged at The K Club today when Walton, Harrington, Sandy Lyle, Clarke, McGinley and Michael Campbell will play the front nine (with amateurs, a la a pro am, completing the team) before passing on to David Gilford, Per Ulrik Johansson, Langer, Montgomerie, Woosnam and Lehman, who will finish the round with their amateur team mates. Players will earn £400 for each eagle and £200 for each birdie scored, with all the proceeds going to Muscular Dystrophy charities.

Then, this evening (6.0), the Spawell par three course in Templeogue will host a novel match when members of the European Tour, led by Montgomerie, and also featuring Harrington, McGinley and Clarke, will play a team from the Irish Blind Golf Association. The tour players will be blindfolded and it is hoped the novel scheme will raise enough funds to purchase two guide dogs.

During tomorrow's pro am at The K Club, a further charity fundraiser - this time in aid of the Children of Chernobyl - will take place when anyone, amateur or professional, who misses the green at the short 17th will be required to place £5 in a bucket by the tee. A person at greenside will give the "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" to players, depending on whether or not they successfully find the green off the tee.

Apart from the charity fundraising schemes, there will also be an extra incentive for the players during the tournament proper: a Jameson yacht, floating on the lake in front of the clubhouse, will be the prize for anyone achieving that rarest of birds, an albatross, at the par five 18th hole, while a Renault Laguna, currently floating on a raft in the Liffey by the 17th hole, will be awarded to the first player to record a hole in one at either the 12th or the 17th.

Spectators at the first three days of the championship will also get the chance to enter into the spirit of things when a special competition will be held to secure two VIP tickets to a hospitality suite at next Sunday's All-Ireland final replay.