No looking back for very busy Smyth

For Des Smyth, the quest for a major is an on-going obsession. Not a man to look back on what might have been, Europe's Ryder Cup vice-captain - who lost a play-off to Tom Watson in the British Seniors Open on Sunday - flies out to America today for a two-week stint that immediately takes in another major championship at this week's US Seniors Open at Kettering in Ohio.

Enjoying a stellar year that has seen him win twice on the Champions Tour, one of four multiple winners on that circuit this season, Smyth is the lone Irish player in the field for the $2.6 million championship.

His cheque for $182,913 for finishing second in the British Seniors to Watson at Royal Aberdeen has moved the Drogheda man up to fourth in the Champions Tour money list, with earnings of $1,032,357 for the season, and up to fourth in the points tally in the performance-related Charles Schwab Cup which has a $1 million pension bonus for the overall winner.

While Smyth felt the crucial point in his head-to-head battle with Watson down the stretch in Sunday's final round of the British Seniors was a three-putt on the 13th, he remarked: "We were going at it (down the stretch) and I enjoyed it, because I played well all day. I was in control of my game (bar) one or two putts . . . . but I felt I had my chance. I probably should have nailed it at 13. I under-clubbed a little, because that green was very hard and I ended up three-putting. Had I gone ahead there I maybe might have stayed ahead."

Smyth, who plays in the US Seniors Open and next week's 3M Championship in Minnesota before taking a fortnight off and then returning to the States for the fifth and final major of the season, the Tradition in Oregon, claimed that his duel with Watson was "enjoyable," adding: "It always is when you play well. That's the whole key about this game, to find your game and play well. My game is in good shape."

Although the major win slipped from his grasp at the third play-off hole on Sunday, Smyth has enjoyed an unprecedented season that has seen him win twice in America - the SBC Classic and the Legends Of Golf - and claim six top-10 finishes. With the British Seniors counting towards the Champions Tour money list, he has moved to fourth in the rankings which is all a contrast to a year ago when he was forced to go to the seniors qualifying school in a bid to improve his status on tour.

While Smyth seeks to maintain his good run of form on the Champions circuit, Ireland's top-ranked players - Padraig Harrington (eighth in the latest world rankings), Darren Clarke (15th), Graeme McDowell (43rd) and Paul McGinley (48th) - are all taking a break from tournament play and won't reappear until the US PGA at Baltusrol next month.

Nevertheless, there are five Irish players in the field for the Scandinavian Masters this week where Peter Lawrie, fresh from his top-five finish in the Deutsche Bank TPC of Europe which moved him up 49 places in the latest world rankings to 239th position, is joined by Gary Murphy, Damien McGrane, Stephen Browne and Philip Walton.

For other aspiring tour professionals, this week's Ireland Ryder Cup Challenge on the Lackabane course at Killarney represents a serious opportunity to make an impression on the European Challenge Tour.

In fact, no fewer than 38 Irish players are in the field (including six amateurs) with a top prize of €20,800 from the overall purse of €130,000.

Of the regular Challenge Tour players, the Killarney tournament represents a chance for David Higgins, currently second on the Order of Merit, to make ground in his season's goal to top the rankings while for former British amateur champion Michael Hoey, this tournament offers a chance to improve on his 10th position in the money list. The top 20 at season's end will secure full cards for next year's regular Tour.

After a flying start to the 2005 campaign in Central America, where Hoey racked up three top-five finishes in six events, the 26-year-old has enlisted the help of his old friend Ryan McGuigan, the man who helped him to a second place finish at the Challenge Tour's last event, the Texbond Open in Italy.

"I've known Ryan a good 15 years now," said Hoey. "It's good to have someone you know on the bag.

"I decided to take a caddie on full time after starting the season well and I had a bit of cash to spare. I thought that it would be a good idea to have a full-time caddie because it's a great help.

"Ryan's especially good with me because he knows me well and is very good at keeping me relaxed on the course and keeping me in the present. He's very good and hopefully he can help me get a card for the main Tour, which will mean more money for him because I'm not paying him that much just now!

"It was disappointing not to win in Italy, but I will take the positives from it. I think I am ready to move up from the Challenge Tour and hopefully I can show that over the rest of the season," added Hoey.