1992

Venue: Killarney (Killeen)

Prize-fund: £500,000 (winner: £83,330)

Champion: Nick Faldo (England) 6665-68-75 * beat Wayne Westner (SA) in play-off

Winning Total: 274 (-10)

Best Irish: Paul McGinley (tied 26th)

Irish hopes were up. A few days before, Christy O'Connor Jnr won the British Masters at Woburn and the £760 driver with the Mizuno titanium head and graphite shaft was to be unleashed again by the Lakes of Killarney. It wasn't to be, however, as the foreign players were unrelenting in their pursuit of the title.

Indeed, by the end, Paul McGinley was almost embarrassed to take credit as the leading Irishman but he assured us all that one day an Irishman should, could and would win. We are still waiting as the decade draws to a close, but Killarney's reputation as a genuine championship course deflected some of the flak from the home players. "You have to walk down the fairways sideways or else your shoulders are in the rough," quipped Brian Barnes.

Nick Faldo, who had failed to win another event - anywhere - since his triumph the previous year, fell over himself to hand out praise. "It's very close to becoming one of the best parkland stretches on tour," he insisted. And that was before he took the championship for a second straight year.

In fact, Faldo tried to turn it into a one man show. He almost succeeded. By the half-way stage, he was five shots clear of Paul Broadhurst, his nearest pursuer. "All we're doing is playing for second place," claimed Colin Montgomerie. "You never know," insisted Bernhard Langer, "Nick and I know that strange things happen in golf."

On the morning of the final round, Wayne Westner, only playing because of a sponsor's invite, jokingly asked Faldo why he was bothering to play. "I was simply chasing Broadhurst for second," explained Westner. However, on a day when mist forced the final round to be delayed by an hour, the South African shot a closing 68 to Faldo's 75 to make up a nine shot deficit and force a play-off. He should have won too, but Faldo eventually won at the fourth tie hole. "I was lucky," admitted Faldo, "he let me off the hook."

1993

Venue: Mount Juliet

Prize-fund: £550,000 (winner: £91,700)

Champion: Nick Faldo (England) 7267-72-65 * bt Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain) in play-off

Winning Total: 276 (-12)

Best Irish: Paul McGinley (tied-12th)

IT IS, of course, one of golf's great finishing holes. Not that David Frost would concur on that first day. On a stretch of terrain that measures 475 yards, the South African took 10 on the 18th and went from four-under to two-over. A double-bogey six would have won him the title come Sunday. But that's golf, ready to bite and eat you alive when you least expect.

Frost eventually finished three strokes off the pace, but that first day had a touch of the unfamiliar about it. For starters, Brian Marchbank, in danger of losing his card, held the first round lead and, wonder of wonders, two Irishmen - Philip Walton and John McHenry - were just a shot adrift. "Our objective must be to have an Irishman up there for the rest of the tournament," stated McHenry.

The next day, Walton was hit by a bout of food poisoning and fell away, but McHenry held on. He finished the second round just one shot behind midway leader Jose Maria Olazabal and alongside Bernhard Langer who had been doubtful with an injured back. "There was pain at the top of my backswing," explained the German, "but the swing lasts only a second of so. With 40 long shots and 40 practice swings, that's really only 80 seconds of pain. Not so bad."

There was little sign of the man seeking a an unprecedented three in a row. On the Sunday, Nick Faldo roared into life. He went around the Thomastown track in 65 shots to set a new course record. McHenry, joint overnight leader with Olazabal, shot a last round 79 to sadly drop away - and Faldo managed to take the crown again when he beat Olazabal in a play-off. "There is something about this country," said Faldo afterwards, "nobody dies of ulcers here". The quiet life was suiting him. He also kept the Waterford Crystal perpetual trophy for his feat.

Paul McGinley finished as top Irishman, again. He was five-under-par for the weekend and suggested, "if you took away the first 27 holes, I was right in there."

1994

Venue: Mount Juliet

Prize-fund: £600,000 (winner: £98,765)

Champion: Bernhard Langer (Germany) 70-68-70-67

Winning Total: 275 (-13)

Best Irish: John McHenry (tied 15th)

The marketing ploy begged spectators to "come see the men of iron". Nick Faldo was back trying to keep the winning sequence going; Jose Maria Olazabal came as US Masters champion; Ernie Els returned as US Open champion; Bernhard Langer was seeking his first tour win in 10 months, and John Daly was there to thrill. It was the strongest field ever assembled for an Irish Open.

Sam Torrance, a veteran Ryder Cup campaigner, set the early pace. His first round 65 equalled the course record established by Nick Faldo a year earlier - but Olazabal and a young Australian by the name of Robert Allenby made their move to assume joint-leadership after 36-holes.

In the third round, Allenby produced what was arguably the shot of the tournament on his way to assuming a three-shot lead. His tee shot at the par five fifth came to rest in rough and Allenby hit a five-iron "as long and as hard as I could". The ball travelled 199 yards, cleared the pocket of bunkers guarding the green and stopped 10 feet from the flag. He holed the eagle putt. "How the hell did you get your ball there?" remarked playing partner Olazabal when they reached the green.

Allenby's lead wasn't sufficient, however. When everyone around him was on a Sunday afternoon birdie shoot, he only managed a level par 72 (enough to share second place with Daly) but Langer came home in 67 to win by one.

1995

Venue: Mount Juliet

Prize-fund: £650,000 (winner: £110,000)

Champion: Sam Torrance (Scotland) 68-68-70-71

Winning Total: 277 (-11)

Best Irish: Des Smyth (tied 24th)

The Shark was paid handsomely for making his way to Co Kilkenny, but another man (and one extremely popular in Ireland), who very nearly didn't enter the tournament, ended up stealing his thunder.

Sam Torrance had considered not playing due to the recent arrival of his daughter Anouska. He was glad he did. In a dramatic conclusion to the championship, Slammin' Sam won a three-way sudden death play-off that led to a Scottish reel on the 17th green.

Yet, the first day belonged to German Sven Struver who opened up with a 65. "My putter kept me alive," conceded Struver afterwards. But he was still in pole position at the half-way stage, although ominously Torrance and Colin Montgomerie had moved onto his shoulder - Monty had edged into the lead heading to the first tee on the final day. Montgomerie's quest for a first Irish title floundered though, and he lamented: "It's my own fault again, nobody's to blame but me . . . I've thrown it away."

Torrance was in no mood to hand anyone favours. In a play-off which lost Stuart Cage at the first hole, Torrance and Howard Clark trooped down the 17th (the second tie hole) where the Scot hit a three-wood approach from 243 yards to nine feet and holed the eagle putt to take a title he described as "my biggest ever win, given the quality of the field".