One of the longest-running sponsorship associations on the PGA European Tour came to a conclusion yesterday when the Smurfit Kappa Group, who had bankrolled the European Open at The K Club for the past 13 years, announced it was terminating the deal with immediate effect.

There had been a commitment to sponsor the tournament up to 2015, as part of acquiring the 2006 Ryder Cup at the Straffan venue.

Despite having what the group's CEO Garry McGann called a "very successful" relationship with the European Tour since reviving the tournament in 1995 and transforming it into one of the flagship events on the calendar, it was announced that the title sponsors had reached an agreement to "conclude its sponsorship".

McGann added that the decision was "based on the increasingly international scale of our business and the inability of a brand such as ours to obtain full value from the sponsorship."

Smurfit Kappa's decision is unquestionably a serious blow to the European Tour, especially coming on foot of HSBC's decision to stop its sponsorship of the World Matchplay Championship and at a time when, increasingly, the tour - with headquarters based at Virginia Water in England - is looking towards Asia with a view to forwarding its expansion.

For instance, no fewer than five tournaments on the 2007 schedule were held in China - the HSBC Champions, the Hong Kong Open, the TCL Classic, the China Open and the Asian Open - as the tour has increased its global position.

Another area of growth has been in the Arab states, with an early-season swing taking in the Abu Dhabi Open, the Qatar Masters and the Dubai Desert Classic.

While Smurfit Kappa's decision to end its title sponsorship of the European Open was sudden, it didn't come as any great surprise given that the company has backed it since 1995 when, inspired by Michael Smurfit's vision to one day play host to the Ryder Cup, it first moved to The K Club when the total prize-fund was the equivalent of €1 million.

By the time that Colin Montgomerie won this year's tournament, the purse had increased to 3.5 million - among the top tournaments outside of the majors and the WGCs - and, as winner, the Scot pocketed 593,580 for his troubles.

George O'Grady, the chief executive of the European Tour, claimed that the two parties had reached an "amicable agreement for the future" and thanked the Smurfit Kappa Group for "their sponsorship and leadership of the European Open for the past 13 years . . . the success of the championship is a tribute to the vision of Dr Michael Smurfit who has done so much for the European Open, for golf in Ireland and for the Ryder Cup."

O'Grady has also indicated that negotiations are at an "advanced" stage with another party interested in taking up the tournament's title sponsorship.

The European Open, assuming it survives on the calendar and doesn't go the way of the English Open which is no longer played, is now likely to move out of Ireland, leaving the Irish Open at Adare Manor as the only tournament left in this country.

Yet, the demise of the European Open in Ireland could yet prove beneficial to the Irish Open. The Government, through Fáilte Ireland, has been a subsidiary sponsor of the Irish Open and the European Opens and last evening issued a statement saying it is working with the European Tour on a "new strategy" to promote Ireland as a golf tourism destination.

Part of this strategy is for Fáilte Ireland to concentrate its financial support on the Irish Open, with the aim of re-establishing it as one of the prime tournaments on the European Tour.

Gillian Bowler, the chairman of Fáilte Ireland, said the aim was to provide the "level of funding that will secure a better date in the schedule and attract a strong field".

The Irish Open, won by Padraig Harrington at Adare Manor in May, is due to be staged at the Co Limerick venue for the next four years.