On course for thriller

EUROPEAN OPEN: So, now we've got a foretaste of what can be expected at the Ryder Cup in 15 months' time. Much pain and angst, but ultimately a thrilling roller-coaster ride down by the banks of the river Liffey. Although Kenneth Ferrie's name was engraved on the trophy as the 2005 Smurfit European Open champion, the real winner was the test presented by the Palmer Course and particularly the closing stretch of holes from the 16th.

As Thomas Bjorn's septuple-bogey 11 on the 17th proved, nothing can ever be taken for granted on this course. The brutal statistics that emerged on Sunday evening were that Ferrie's 72-hole winning total of three-under-par 285 was the highest winning total on the PGA European Tour this season - ironically, the previous high of 282 was by Bjorn in winning the British Masters at the Forest of Arden.

In terms of the highest winning total in relation to par, only Michael Campbell's level-par score in taking the US Open at Pinehurst exceeded the K Club.

"I hope it doesn't get any tougher," observed Darren Clarke. "I think it is going to be very, very exciting for the spectators at the Ryder Cup, (but) I don't know if it is going to be as exciting for the players.

"It's such a tough golf course that I don't think it favours anybody (European or American). It's just too tough a golf course that any missed shots are heavily penalised."

The course was indeed exceptionally difficult, as testified by the scoring and statistical summary for Sunday's final round when no fewer than 15 holes played tougher than its par. The only holes to be under par were two of the par fives: the fourth had an average of 4.65, while the 18th was the easiest statistically with an average of 4.52. The other hole not to play over par was the par three 12th, which had an exact average of its par (3.00).

Otherwise, it was a constant and tough battle for players. Not surprisingly, given its impact on players coming down the straight, the 17th - a par four of 424 yards that curls its way around the banks of the Liffey - proved to be the toughest hole of all, finishing with an average of 4.68, while the second toughest hole was the seventh (for which a new tee was in play during the championship) which had a 4.53 average.

Tournament officials also used Sunday's final round to move the tee forward on the 16th hole so that players would be tempted to go for the green in two, with a long-iron approach to the narrow green positioned on the other side of the Liffey. "I think it's a much better hole off the front tee, far more exciting," said Clarke. "I believe they're going to use that tee (in the Ryder Cup)."

After the European Open, when only three players managed to finish under par, what we do know is that the course will present as tough an examination of any to be found anywhere. And, in terms of the matchplay format, the finishing holes will provide tremendous theatre.