Businessman Denis O'Brien's passion for golf apparently knows no bounds. Just two years after he spent £25 million (€32 million) buying the upmarket Quinta do Lago leisure complex on the Portuguese Algarve, Mr O'Brien has now paid about £2.5 million (€3.2 million) for a 9.2 per cent stake in PGA European Tour Courses, the London-listed company that operates golf courses in Britain and continental Europe.

Mr O'Brien, who netted £221 million from the sale of Esat Telecom to British Telecom earlier this year, has not revealed exactly how much he paid for the stake in PGA. However, at yesterday's price of 38p sterling, PGA has a market value of £22.5 million sterling - suggesting that Mr O'Brien paid around £2 million sterling (£2.5 million) for the shares.

Mr Liam Barrett, a spokesman for Mr O'Brien's Quinta do Lago company, said the investment was a logical extension of Mr O'Brien's interest in Quinta do Lago.

He gave no indication whether Mr O'Brien planned to increase his stake in PGA, which itself has been the focus of periodic takeover speculation over the past year.

PGA operates a number of golf courses which have played host to various tournaments in the European golf tour.

The most recent figures for PGA - for the six months to the end of last June - show pre-tax profits of £1.06 million sterling on sales of £3.69 million sterling.

Mr O'Brien bought the Quinta do Lago property, which includes four 18-hole courses, stables, a five-star hotel and several sailing lakes, in 1998. The golf courses are leased to a number of international companies - including PGA.