Golf: In the dim and distant past, in its heyday, there were few tournaments as grand as the Irish Open. This year, in an attempt to rekindle the old glory days, the tournament - with a new title sponsor, Nissan - has returned to its spiritual home of Portmarnock and the professionals who have travelled here have not only discovered a windswept links of unimaginable beauty, but one that will play longer than any other course in the history of the European Tour.

Unfortunately, the lure of playing one of the world's greatest links courses has proven to be fairly resistible for many of the world's greatest players.

Only five players ranked in the top-50 in the world have made the trip and, equally unfortunate, only seven of the top-20 players in the current European Tour Order of Merit are competing.

All of which would indicate that money, serious money, is the real attraction for many players and that the €1.8 million prize money on offer - €300,000 to the winner - doesn't cut ice with a lot of players, which says a lot about modern professional golf. Still, those here - led by Padraig Harrington, the ninth-ranked player in the world - are like jewellers who have found an old gemstone that sparkles brighter than any that they've ever seen before.

"It will always be a great links course," enthused Jose Maria Olazabal, who won the last Irish Open to be staged at Portmarnock, in 1990. Harrington, though, is enthralled by the links which sidles up to the Irish Sea on one side and an estuary that separates the peninsula from Baldoyle on the other. "It's probably one of the best golf courses in the world," insisted the Dubliner.

The course has been lengthened since Olazabal's win, however. It now measures 7,363 yards - with a par 72 - which makes it the longest ever on the European Tour.

Not everyone is pleased with the extra yardage, though. Andy Coltart, who has been taking good-natured stick from his peers for a photograph (In which he has thick, curly hair) in the players' lounge dating back to when the Walker Cup was held here in 1991, doesn't think it was necessary to add more yards.

"I'm not in favour of the length. There's just no need for it, not on a links course," said Coltart. "It's fine to lengthen a parkland course where it is not that much affected by wind . . . but when you play a links which is affected by the wind, there is no need."

Harrington doesn't believe that the extra yardage will be as much a factor as some fear. "Length doesn't really make a difference on a links golf course," he said. "You can be hitting eight-iron 180 yards or a four-iron 150 yards, depending on the wind. Length isn't everything on a course and I don't see any hole particularly unfair with length. They haven't gone overboard on length, it's not overly long at all."

The added length comes from seven new tees - on the second, third, fourth, fifth, eighth, 14th and 16th holes - while the first hole has been completely remodelled to bring the estuary down the right hand side more into play.

Yet, it is the wind, rather than the length, which will provide most protection to the links. "It will be a brutal test, if the wind blows," insisted Harrington.

The strange bounces that were part and parcel of playing the bone-hard course at Sandwich in last week's British Open will not be replicated here. This is a fairer course, without the exaggerated bumps and hollows of Sandwich in its fairways, and the recent rain has also softened the fairways and greens and taken away some of the course's bite as a consequence.

Harrington is the class act in the field. He is the lowest ranked player in the world rankings (ninth) and he is the highest positioned (second) on the European Tour money list. Whether Harrington can convert that into success - he has finished sixth last year and second the previous year - remains to be seen, but he doesn't see home town expectations as a burden. "Having support can help, if anything," he said.

Neither does he believe there will be any hangover effect from the British Open for those players who were at Sandwich. "I think it could be the reverse, in fact. Most people built up for the Open and a lot of times when you do that and miss your targets, you come out and play well the next week. I think for the Irish guys, the focus of the past few weeks has been on the British Open and we've been able to get away from the hype and expectations of the Irish Open. We've been able to just breeze in and I would predict that the Irish will do better this year than in the past," Harrington claimed.

Of course, an Irish winner of the Irish Open is long overdue, with John O'Leary's win in 1982 the last one. Harrington may have the best chance of rectifying that bare statistic but he is not alone in attempting to change it - there are 18 Irish in the field, including fellow Ryder Cup players Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley - while the international invasion includes in-form Phillip Price, winner of the European Open earlier this month and, like Gary Evans, a top-10 finisher at Sandwich.

Apart from Harrington and Clarke, the only other player inside the top 20 in the world rankings competing is Thomas Bjorn, who may have more baggage than anyone from the British Open. Yet, he is so strong mentally that it would be no surprise to see him get into contention straight away.

One thing Bjorn will find is that Portmarnock is a fairer course than Sandwich. It is more likely to reward good shots, and poor shots are more likely to be punished. And, as it has always done, Portmarnock is likely to produce a worthy champion.

For a tournament that looked to be at death's door, the return to this famous old course - and the arrival of new sponsors - has not only revived it but instilled expectations of a great championship. Those absent will be real the losers this weekend.