Millions of Reasons Led to Palmer Venue

STRAFFAN, Ireland, Sept. 21 -- Ireland has scores of classic links, such as Ballybunion, Waterville and Portmarnock. So why is this 36th Ryder Cup, the country's first, being held at an Arnold Palmer-designed, American-style parkland course some say wouldn't even be considered among the top 25 in this country?

In recent years, the Ryder Cup has become an extremely lucrative enterprise for the sponsoring organizations -- this year the British PGA and the European Tour, and in the United States, the PGA of America. So the site of this year's event simply went to the highest bidder, Irish paper-cardboard magnate Michael Smurfit, who lives in Monaco, where he owns one of world's largest yachts.

Reportedly with a net worth of about $500 million, Smurfit owns the K Club, an upscale hotel and resort, and has invested more than $50 million to host the Cup this week. This year's Ryder Cup also is expected to produce a $25 million profit for the sponsoring bodies.

In return, the K Club -- the K stands for County Kildare -- also is getting worldwide publicity for a high-end resort, where rooms cost about $600 a day in-season and greens fees are $450 on the Ryder Cup course, believed to be the highest price for golf in Europe.

Palmer's creation stretches more than 7,300 yards and will play considerably longer with all the rain this week. Two of the last three holes -- the 16th and 18th -- are two-shot par 5s where water comes into play, and a number of risk-reward holes will add to the drama, especially in a match-play format.

"I think the golf course will hold up and do its thing in these matches," said Palmer, who is attending this week. "I don't think there's any question how this golf course will fare, especially the last three holes. I think they'll be very significant."

For Openers, the Sun

The opening ceremony benefited from a nice break in the atrocious weather that has plagued the past three practice days. The sun actually came out awhile during a 90-minute extravaganza that included some stirring Irish music and dance, the national anthems for all the participants and the usual calls for sportsmanship and fair play by the two team captains, the United States' Tom Lehman and Europe's Ian Woosnam.

Both teams were introduced with little fanfare by the respective captains, though Irish natives Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley received the most rousing cheers. The morning pairings for the start of play Friday also were announced publicly for the first time, and the Tiger Woods-Jim Furyk match against Colin Montgomerie and Harrington also was greeted with great enthusiasm.

Captains' Wheels Turning

Lehman said he went with the same pairings for the opening better-ball session that he was planning when he arrived here on Monday. Woosnam said he made several changes in his own pairings after watching his team practice this week, but he always planned to send Montgomerie and Harrington out first against the Americans. Both said every player on their team will play at least once before the 12 singles matches on Sunday.

Lehman said he decided to play rookie Brett Wetterich in the opening session because of his prodigious distance off the tee. He also said his partner, David Toms, would provide a calming influence. Another rookie, J.J. Henry, will play in the morning as well, teamed with Stewart Cink. Lehman said the two players hooked up as a team when the entire American squad flew here to practice at the K Club last month, and seemed to bond and play well immediately.