Rocca one of the first to show

The CIRCUS, aka the PGA European Tour, rolled back into town yesterday and, much to the surprise of early arrivals for the Smurfit European Open which starts at The K Club on Thursday, the Arnold Palmer-designed venue was basking in sunshine.

"Fingers crossed this keeps up," remarked tournament director Jamie Birkmyre, one of the prime movers in securing a mid-August date for the £850,000 tournament which, for the past two years, has endured bad late September weather. Indeed, an indication of the tournament's move to a more golfer-friendly date is that advance ticket sales this year have "more than doubled."

Yet, the scene yesterday was akin to the calm before the storm. The ample practice range was sparsely populated, although one of its earlier inhabitants was, remarkably, a player who had travelled the furthest distance, Costantino Rocca.

The Italian, who'd suffered a poor weekend in the US PGA Championship and plunged down the field from his lofty position after the opening two rounds in the year's final major (leaving him in a perilous 10th position in the European Ryder Cup standings), decided to hit the range as his way of combating jet-lag fatigue.

Rocca, who had departed Winged Foot promptly after concluding his final round, admitted to feeling "tired and a little stiff" as he prepared for the penultimate event in Europe's Ryder Cup selection process. It's difficult to adjust to the sight of someone on the range only hours after seeing him on Sky television. "Did you take Concorde?" "No, Aer Lingus," came the reply, testimony to the swiftness he left the memory of New York behind him.

Indeed, the Ryder Cup casts an exciting shadow over this week's event. With £140,000 to the winner, the tournament will have a major say in who fills the blank spots on Seve Ballesteros's team list. And news that Tom Kite had opted for Fred Couples and Lee Janzen as his two captain's picks was generally greeted with murmurs of agreement. "They're two good players, both major winners," said Rocca. "I expect Tom (Kite) talked to some of the older players like Tom Watson before making up his mind. They are strong choices."

However, the quest to fill the places on the European team has ensured a strong presence this week, even if Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood opted to play in the clashing World Series in Akron. "It's a shame that two of the brightest young talents on our Tour have decided to play elsewhere, but we still have an immensely strong field," said Birkmyre.

"The Ryder Cup scene makes it just so exciting," insisted Birkmyre. "When you think of what Padraig (Harrington) has to do and others who are chasing places." As things stand, with the European Open and next week's BMW International the only two remaining events to count, Harrington is in 11th position, some £27,315 behind Rocca, and £22,086 ahead of Jose-Maria Olazabal.

Meanwhile, if Rocca's enthusiasm to be among the first to check in to tournament HQ, then the efforts of Colin Montgomerie must be admired. The four-time European number one took on Phil Mickelson in a Shell Wonderful World of Golf match in Arizona yesterday and was obliged to stay for the official dinner. Today, he flies back to JFK in New York, then flies Concorde to London and will reunite with his family tonight before continuing the journey to Dublin tomorrow morning. Not surprisingly, Montgomerie will be the last player to check in.

Yesterday, the final two sponsor's invites were extended to the top two players on the waiting list, England's Neal Briggs and Denmark's Ben Tinning.

There are 18 Irish players in the tournament: Harrington, Ronan Rafferty, Paul McGinley, Philip Walton, Eamonn Darcy, Des Smyth, Raymond Burns, David Higgins, Francis Howley, John McHenry, Eoghan O'Connell, Gary Murphy, Christy O'Connor Jnr, Leslie Walker, Brendan McGovern, Damian Mooney, Damian McGrane and Jimmy Heggarty.

Meanwhile, a Charity Pro-Am Challenge will effectively get the week's golf under way today when Walton, Harrington, McGinley, Burns, Thomas Bjorn, David Gilford, Bernhard Langer, Per-Ulrik Johansson, Ian Woosnam, JoseMaria Olazabal, Rocca and Seve Ballesteros participate with their amateur teams.