 The "World Golf Championships - American Express Championship" will be held at Mount Juliet, Co. Kilkenny from September 17th to 22nd 2002. One of the four tournaments that make up the World Golf Championships, the event attracts the world's top ranked players, many of whom will be making their first competitive appearance in Ireland.
A 72-hole strokeplay event, there is no cut at the halfway stage so the full field will play all four days for a total prize fund of US$5 million, with $1 million going to the winner. Tiger Woods won the inaugural event in Valderrama in 1999 and the current champion is Mike Weir of Canada, who held off the challenge of Lee Westwood to win the event in 2000. The 2001 championship, to be held at Bellerive in Missouri, was cancelled following the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11th 2001.
Ireland's Padraig Harrington, who is the touring professional at Mount Juliet, said he is particularly excited about one of the world's biggest golf events coming to his home club. "It shows just how highly rated this country is within the world of golf that both the Ryder Cup and the World Golf Championships will be held in Ireland within the next five years. Mount Juliet has already proved itself to be an outstanding venue for tournament golf but securing this massive event will add further to its reputation in the years ahead. It is particularly exciting that many of the world's top players will be making their competitive debuts in Ireland at Mount Juliet and knowing just how sports mad we Irish are, there is little doubt that the event will be a huge success.
The World Golf Championships are sanctioned and organised by the International Federation of PGA Tours, which includes the Asian PGA, European Tour, Japan Golf Tour, PGA Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia and Southern Africa Tour. The field comprises the leading players from each of these tours, while the top fifty players in the official World Golf Rankings are automatically eligible to play in the event. Given the quality of the field and the fact that all players will play for the full four days, the organisers are anticipating unprecedented interest in the event.
Those who wish to plan a trip around the event should contact Online Golf Travel at (353 1) 824 6210 or by email at info@onlinegolftravel.com.
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