Thanks for the Ryder Cup, now f%~k Off

[Grumpy Old Man]

The European Open, which this year featured only four members of last year's Ryder Cup team, has lost its sponsor.

The tournament has been staged at The K Club every year since 1995, but it was announced today that the Smurfit Kappa Group have ended their backing with immediate effect.

Company chief executive Gary McGann said: 'We have had a very successful relationship with The European Tour over the last 13 years, during which time the European Open became one of the leading events on the tour's circuit.

'Last year The K Club also hosted what most commentators regard as the most successful ever staging of The Ryder Cup.

'SKG's decision is based on the increasingly international scale of our business and the inability of a brand such as ours to obtain full value from the sponsorship.'

Colin Montgomerie won the title in July, but Padraig Harrington, Paul McGinley and David Howell were his only 2006 cup team-mates who also returned to the venue.

George O'Grady, chief executive of the European Tour, said: 'We are indebted to the Smurfit Kappa Group, with whom we have reached an amicable agreement for the future, for their sponsorship and leadership of the European Open for the past 13 years, qualities which have elevated the stature of the Championship within the European Tour international schedule since 1995.

'The success of the Championship is a tribute to the vision of Dr Michael Smurfit, who has done so much for the European Open Golf Championship, for golf in Ireland, and for the Ryder Cup.

'The European Open is a key fixture on the European Tour, offering as it does a much coveted opportunity for business, and negotiations are already advanced re its future.'

The tournament appears with no title sponsor on today's release of next season's full Tour schedule and will occupy the same week (3-6 July) a fortnight before The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

[Leinster til i die]

My thoughts exactly. How can they be allowed to break a contract that went to 2015. Never really liked the way Smurfit thought he was the most important person at the european open and the ryder cup and the way he flew around on his golf buggy accross fairways etc. Leave the event and the spotlight on the players i say.
On a positive note, hopefully now our national open will return to a more prestigious place on the tour.

[epaddy]

My thoughts exactly. How can they be allowed to break a contract that went to 2015. Never really liked the way Smurfit thought he was the most important person at the european open and the ryder cup and the way he flew around on his golf buggy accross fairways etc. Leave the event and the spotlight on the players i say.
On a positive note, hopefully now our national open will return to a more prestigious place on the tour.

He no longer owns Smurfits. The European Tour faltering with all the money in the states and the Fed Ex Cup. They need to come up with something similar over here. After the Ryder Cup, the KClub struggled to fill the corporate facilities for the EO as many of them where tied to the RC and had expired. I dont know if the Irish public has the appetite for 2 or 3 stops here each year. Crowd numbers have been poor recently for most events bar Harrington going well this year in Limerick.