Padraig Harrington would have liked to have taken a rest this week, after his noble endeavours to make the European Ryder Cup team. After five successive tournaments, and eight in the last nine weeks, which lifted him to 12th place in the final qualifying table, the Stackstown professional had promised himself a three-week break. But by keeping himself tournament sharp at this much-criticised course at Crans-sur-Sierre, Harrington could yet end up playing against the USA at Valderrama at the end of the month, when the dust clears after the Ryder Cup storm that blew up yesterday. As matters stand at the moment, Jose Maria Olazabal, who finished 11th, just ahead of Harrington, has been given Miguel Angel Martin's place at Valderrama. That makes the Irishman next in line should any of the 10 `automatic' members of the team be injured between now and the match.
Five of the team, defending champion Colin Montgomerie, Costantino Rocca, Ignacio Garrido, Thomas Bjorn and Darren Clarke have joined skipper Seve Ballesteros in the Cannon European Masters at Crans-surSierre, which starts today.
Prospective wild card selection Nick Faldo, and US Ryder Cup newcomer Scott Hoch are also competing for a first prize of £133,330.
They struggled to cope with greens ravaged by July storms, and mis-application of fertiliser in August that scorched their surfaces.
Faldo described the greens as "so bad I don't want to talk about them. They are the worst I have ever seen".
He called for a comprehensive overhaul of the European Tour's course preparation methods adding: "It is a serious priority now that the carrot is being dangled across the pond."
That "carrot" is so juicy it is likely to tempt players like Clarke and Lee Westwood to spend more of their time in the USA next season. A significant number of Swedes are planning to enter the forthcoming US Tour school.
Des Smyth, Philip Walton, Ronan Rafferty, Raymond Burns and David Higgins join a field from which nearly 30 senior players have withdrawn because of the greens, among them Jamie Spence, who shot an 11 under par 60 on the way to victory over Montgomerie in 1992.
