The last two US Open Champions will be in action in the Smurfit European Open at The K Club this week as Michael Campbell makes his first appearance since winning his first Major title at Pinehurst No.2 alongside defending champion Retief Goosen.
The Brighton-based New Zealander will be bidding to emulate Goosen, also a UK resident, who won the US Open at Shinnecock Hills last year and flew back across the Atlantic to capture the Smurfit European Open on his next start.
Campbell, whose victory took him to the top of The European Tour Order of Merit with €1,328,074, already has one Smurfit European Open title to his name, having won a dramatic finish in 2002.
Goosen, of course, has two US Open titles to his name and will be defending the title following his impressive five stroke victory over the Smurfit Course last year, while Paul Lawrie (1999 Open Champion), Tom Lehman (1996 Open), Sandy Lyle (1985 Open and 1988 Masters) and Ian Woosnam (1991 Masters) complete the line-up of Major Champions in the field.
Woosnam and Lehman, who will captain Europe and the United States respectively in The 36th Ryder Cup next September, will be competing together for the first time in Europe since they were announced as Captains, and have the ideal opportunity to cast their eye over the venue for the biennial contest, since the 11th staging of the Smurfit European Open at The K Club will be over The Palmer Course, where The Ryder Cup from September 22-24, 2006 will also be played.
Woosnam’s participation in the event continues a proud tradition for the Welshman who has featured in every Smurfit European Open since 1995 and who has missed the cut only once, in 2000.
It will be Lehman’s third appearance in the tournament, having finished tied for ninth place, seven shots adrift of winner Bernhard Langer, on his debut in 1995, and in a share of 33rd place in 1996 alongside four other players including, coincidentally, Woosnam.
“Obviously playing the golf course where The Ryder Cup will be staged next year will make this week extra special for me,” said Lehman. “But I have always enjoyed my trips to Europe in the past and to Ireland in particular, and I am sure this week will provide me with more memories to treasure.”
Darren Clarke returns to action for the first time since withdrawing from the BMW Championship last month to be with his wife Heather in her battle against cancer. The K Club has been a happy hunting ground for Clarke, who established the course record of 60 in 1999, then became the first Irishman to win on home soil since 1982 when he captured the title two years later.
Clarke joins fellow Irish Ryder Cup heroes, Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley, in the 2005 event, which affords one final opportunity for potential Ryder Cup players to play The K Club’s Palmer Course before it stages the biennial event next year.
Angel Cabrera is another of the international stars who will illuminate the Smurfit European Open. Cabrera is on a high having captured the recent BMW Championship at Wentworth Club and has a fantastic record in the Smurfit European Open, having not finished outside the top ten in the last seven years.
The nearest the Argentine has come to victory was in 2000 when he finished in second place, one shot adrift of champion Lee Westwood and he will be looking to put that right this year, just as he did at Wentworth Club, where he finished second in 2004 before going one better in May.
The 156 competitors will, after a year’s absence, once again face the test presented by Arnold Palmer's masterpiece which has been lengthened slightly to 7,337 yards and a handful of greens and fairways have been reshaped.
