ONE of the most influential events in the development of golf in this country is returning here after a lapse of 27 years. On July 14th, the Monday before the British Open, Tom Watson will play Fred Couples at Mount Juliet in the Shell Wonderful World of Golf series.

The transmission of the series by RTE television, following on the staging of the Canada Cup at Portmarnock in 1960, generated enormous interest in the game. Most of the matches were filmed in the US but Ireland played host to four duels in 1963 at Portmarnock where Harry Bradshaw (73) beat Billy Casper (76) at Killarney two years later when Joe Carr and Al Geiberger tied on 68; in 1968 at Royal Co Down where Don January (68) beat Christy O'Connor Snr (72) and in 1970 at Ballybunion where O'Connor (72) beat Bob Goalby (74).

A link with those memorable occasions will be established by Carr, now the Mount Juliet president, who will act as referee. As it happened, he filled the same role when O'Connor beat Jack Nicklaus in an exhibition match to mark the opening of Mount Juliet in July 1991.

"Things have changed a lot from my day when Geiberger and myself started at 8.0 on a Friday morning and finished at 4.0 on the Saturday afternoon," said Carr yesterday. "But it was great fun, even if it took us about half an hour to play each shot. I remember we each had our own dressing room and they even decided that I needed a bit of make up before teeing off."

Back then, the winner received a fee of $5,000 with $3,000 for the runner up. "We each got $4,000 and being an amateur, I donated mine to the IPGA benevolent fund," added Carr. A further sign of changed times is that five cameras will allow Watson and Couples to complete their work in five hours

In announcing what is a considerable honour for the course, Mount Juliet owner, Tim Mahony said: "The international exposure from the match will be a further, important step in our determination to play host to the Ryder Cup in 2005."