Payne Stewart is to make a competitive return to Ireland in the £1.5 million Smurfit European Open at The K Club on August 20th to 23rd. He plans to travel to Dublin from the USPGA Championship which takes place in Seattle the previous week.

As the newly-crowned, 1991 US Open champion at Hazeltine, Stewart was a very popular competitor in the Irish Open at Killarney a week later. "I really enjoyed that visit which makes me all the more delighted to be going back," he said yesterday. His nine American victories also include the 1989 USPGA Championship at Kemper Lakes.