Golf: Where to next? On Sunday evening, as the grandstands emptied and those spectators who had spent the day traipsing the dunes in a cocktail of weather exited Portmarnock Golf Club in a far more orderly fashion than existed in the old days, Nissan Ireland's confirmation that their sponsorship of the Irish Open would extend for a further two years begged the question as to where the 2004 version of the championship would be held.
If the professionals had any say in the matter, it would go straight back to Portmarnock.
"I didn't play well but I certainly can't blame the course for that. It was fantastic, the best we have played on all year. There wasn't a single word of complaint from any player," insisted Darren Clarke. And, in this day and age where the professional golfer is a spoilt breed, that is saying something.
Indeed, the course superintendent, Ian Ritchie, received many accolades from the players, with Thomas Bjorn opining that, "This course is up there with the best of the best."
All in all, those associated with the club can reflect on a good week's work in showcasing Irish links golf to the world and, from a different perspective, Fáilte Ireland - who received flak from many quarters for injecting €750,000 into marketing the tournament - can point out this is precisely the product, the image of golfing in Ireland, that they want to convey to the world.
The tournament was shown on television in over 80 countries but, probably most importantly in terms of attracting golfing tourists here, was covered live on The Golf Channel in the US.
Nissan, too, can view their sponsorship as a success, notwithstanding the controversy generated by backing a tournament at an all-men's club. One of the toughest things in sponsorship is to follow on from a successful predecessor and Murphy's, in their nine years as title sponsors, had performed extremely well in establishing brand association. However, Nissan - in their first year - did remarkably well to make such a seamless transition into the role of title sponsors.
So, where to now? A decision is unlikely to be made before October, and most probably even later than that, but the indications are it won't immediately return to Portmarnock. Although happy that the course's profile has been raised again, club officials are aware that damage inflicted to the course - there were 27,000 spectators for Sunday's final round - takes time to heal, and a situation more compatible with that which happens on the British Open rota where the same course doesn't host the championship for five or more years would be more preferred.
The likelihood is the championship will stay on the east coast for next year and among those believed to be in contention are Royal Dublin - although moving to another all-men's club would be a bit like jumping from a boiling pot into a frying pan - and a number of new parkland courses, including Carton House, near Maynooth, and Druids Heath, the new sister course to Druids Glen in Co Wicklow.
Druids Heath has not officially opened yet but that should not be seen as any great obstacle as the developers have purposely allowed the course to mature, giving it an extended growing-in time. Indeed, when Druids Glen first held the Irish Open in 1996 - the first of four stagings - it was considered a "baby", in that it had only opened six months previously. Yet, it stood up magnificently to the challenge. The attraction of Druids Heath as a possible venue is that it now has a Marriott hotel on site.
Of possibly more concern to those associated with the Irish Open is the date. The week after the British Open is probably the worst one in golf, with many of the top players reluctant to play. This was borne out in Portmarnock where only five players ranked in the top 50 in the world made the trip and only seven of the top 20 players in the European Tour Order of Merit competed. There have been suggestions that a date at the end of August may be offered, and that is likely to be be far more acceptable to the sponsors.
Meanwhile, Graeme McDowell defends his Scandinavian Masters title at Barseback this week - where Paul McGinley, Peter Lawrie, Gary Murphy, Ronan Rafferty and Damien McGrane are also in action - and it will be an opportunity for European Tour players to personally pass on their good wishes to Bernhard Langer, who has accepted the captaincy for next year's Ryder Cup match in Detroit.
The manner in how the news of Langer's appointment was conveyed last week still rankles with others who had thrown their hats into the ring. Sandy Lyle claimed, "it was a little unprofessional how it was all handled. They could have at least informed Ian Woosnam and I, or given us some idea, because it did only involve three players. We could have been given word that a decision had been made and got the message rather than hear nothing and then all of a sudden, bang! It's in the press. Simple courtesy was just overlooked."
Lyle hopes Langer will look to him as a possible vice-captain for the match in Oakland Hills.
"I have the advantage of having played so long in America and knowing how the Americans think. I know what makes them tick and what type of golf courses they play. It has to be an advantage," said Lyle. "It was mentioned that they were the qualities that helped Bernhard get the job and they're exactly the same qualities I would bring to the vice captain's role."
ORDER OF MERIT: Irish positions: 3, P Harrington €1,140,618; 7, D Clarke €888,057; 41, P McGinley €321,825; 42, G Murphy €317,828; 46, P Lawrie €311,331; 69, G McDowell €205,646; 157, D McGrane €56,124; 173, R Rafferty €38,481; 211, P Walton €20,539.
WORLD RANKINGS: Other Irish positions: 19, D Clarke; 144, P McGinley; 159, G McDowell; 213, G Murphy; 264, P Lawrie.
