World event returns to Mount Juliet

So, it's official - world number one Tiger Woods will be back next year stalking the fairways of Mount Juliet, Co Kilkenny, in the American Express World Championship on September 30th-October 3rd, when a record prize fund of $7 million will be on offer.

The Jack Nicklaus-designed course played host to the event last year, and Ireland has won the rights to stage next year's tournament ahead of intense competition from other venues in Europe.

On winning the event last year, Woods was effusive in his praise.

"This course is very finely conditioned," he said at the time, "as good as any you will find in America. The Irish galleries were fantastic. They're knowledgeable, they understand the game. That's the most fun, when you play in front of fans who appreciate what a good shot really is."

For next year's staging of the championship, Dr Tim Mahony, the chairman of Mount Juliet, has indicated that course architect Nicklaus is likely to affect some changes in order to "strengthen the challenge" of the course for the players.

The tournament is limited to about 70 players and, in last year's event, 49 of the top 50 ranked players in the world participated, while an attendance of 120,174 for the four days made it the most successful world golf championship ever, which was a key factor in Ireland securing the rights to next year's tournament.

"The world tourism market is becoming increasingly competitive and availing of the marketing initiatives provided by prestigious sporting events is a key element in our strategy," insisted the Minister for Sport, John O'Donoghue, in confirming yesterday that the championship would be returning to a parkland course which has also staged the Irish Open on three occasions as well as the Shell Wonderful World of Golf in 1997.

This will be the fourth time that the AmEx will be held in Europe. Valderrama played host to the championship in 1999 and 2000. But it is an indication of the growth of golf that next year's prize fund (with $1.2 million going to the winner) will have increased by $2 million since that inaugural championship, also won by Woods.

Darren Clarke, the only European to have won a WGC event (he has captured the Accenture world matchplay and the NEC Invitational) and, indeed, the only multiple winner apart from Woods, remarked: "This is great news for Irish golf. It's a fantastic venue, always prepared to the highest level of conditioning."

For last year's championship, all 18 greens were reconstructed in a programme that started two years beforehand and resulted in smooth-as-silk Penn A4 creeping bentgrass surfaces cut to a height of one-tenth of an inch, which gave a reading of 11½ on the Stimpmetre. Indeed, the greens came in for the highest praise from all the competitors. "The hugely positive reaction from all the players was significant in influencing our decision to hosting the championship for a second time," conceded Mahony.

One thing the organisers will be hoping for next year is a repeat of the good weather that blessed last year's tournament, as next year's event will be held two weeks later in the year. However, the profile of the tournament should be accentuated even more on this occasion as it comes in the week immediately after the Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills in Detroit.