When Eamonn Darcy and Des Smyth made their British Open debuts at Carnoustie in 1975, they were among 10 Irish challengers at the renowned Angus links. Scores from the first round of Final Qualifying yesterday, however, suggest that this year's representation could be considerably smaller.

Smyth, of course, is exempt, having shared 14th place behind Mark O'Meara at Royal Birkdale last year. Darcy, on the other hand, will need to improve on a level-par 71 at Monifieth Links given that, with only 12 to qualify at each venue, there are already 20 players on 69 or better.

Best Irish performance so far has come from the English-based Dubliner John Murray, who shot an admirable 67 at Monifieth. Murray, whose father, Brian, is a past captain of Clontarf GC, produced exemplary play to card five birdies, two of them in a homeward 33.

Professional at the Shortlands club in Kent, he has yet to qualify for the Open in several creditable attempts and this would appear to be his best chance so far. He certainly produced much tidier play than Darcy, whose round contained four bogeys.

Of the 16 Irish challengers, who included the recently crowned Amateur Close champion Ciaran McMonagle from Dunfanaghy GC, Paul McGinley was the only other one to break 70, with a solid 69 at Panmure. "It was tricky out there, but I kept the ball in play and hit a lot of greens," he said. "It was a great test of golf."

Given the enormous pressure of the exercise, McGinley had the considerable bonus of starting with two birdies. He holed an eight-footer at the first and then reached the green with a five-iron second shot at the 491-yard second for a twoputt birdie. From then on, he concentrated on keeping mistakes to a minimum.

With 20 players on 71 or better, Padraig Harrington clearly faces a tough challenge today if he is to get among the qualifiers from Panmure. After a one-over-par 71, the Dubliner said: "The back nine was tough into the wind and I couldn't hole any putts." Which would explain why there were only two birdies on his card.

Jim Carvill started back 3, 3, 3 - birdie, birdie, par - on the way to a well-crafted 70 at Montrose Links. But there are 17 players on 68 or better at a venue which has been dominated by three Swedes. Gabriel Hjertstedt shot a fiveunder-par 66 for a course record, only to see it tumble two hours later to a 63 from compatriot PerUlrik Johansson. Then New Zealander Michael Long shot another 63.

"I only walked the course on Saturday night and took notes," said Johansson. "Maybe I should do it that way in future." Notetaking would have been of little help, however, to Anders Forsbrand who carded a wretched 14 at the 416-yard 17th hole, where three penalty strokes included a drive out of bounds.

So, instead of a probable 70, he finished with an 80. To his credit, however, Forsbrand remained sufficiently calm to sign autographs afterwards.

Richard Coughlan, with a level-par 73, was the leading Irishman at Downfield. Again, he is faced with a severe test in the second round today, given that no fewer than 17 players are on 70 or better.

For the record, Ulsterman Paul Leonard, in 12th place, was the leading Irish finisher at Carnoustie 24 years ago when the other qualifiers were: Christy O'Connor Jnr, Roddy Carr, Eddie Polland, Joey Purcell, Smyth, Billy Todd, John O'Leary, Darcy and David Jones.