Ireland will host the International European Amateur Championship for the first time in the event’s 25-year history next year.

The Montgomerie Course at Carton House will test the best amateur players from across the world from August 8-11.

Some of the biggest names in the world of professional golf have captured the European Individual title on their way to global success – including current US Open champion and current World No. 2 Rory McIlroy.

The championship is one of only four on the World Amateur Golf Rankings points system with “elite” status – the other three being the Asian Amateur, British Amateur and US Amateur Championships.

Irish players have been particularly successful at the event. McIlroy’s victory in 2006 earned him a place in the 2007 Open Championship, where he shot the best round of the opening day and announced his talent to the world by going on to win the Silver Medal awarded to the leading amateur  that week.

His win was the fourth Irish victory in the championship following Paddy Gribben in 1998, Stephen Browne in 2001 and Brian McElhinney in 2003.

Prominent past winners also include five-time Ryder Cup star Sergio Garcia, France’s European Tour stalwart Gregory Havret – who finished runner-up at the US Open in 2010 – and Sweden’s Carl Pettersson, who held off Graeme McDowell in 2000.

Albert Lee, Honorary Secretary of the Golfing Union of Ireland, said: “We are delighted to be selected to host the European Individual Championship and look forward to welcoming the cream of world amateur golf to Ireland next August.

“We are also thrilled that the championship will be played on the Montgomerie Course at Carton House, as I’m sure it will be both an enjoyable experience and a stern test for such an elite field.”

Stephen Dodd and Thomas Bjorn won the Irish Open over the Mongomerie Course in 2005 and 2006 respectively while Welshman Craig Smith won the 2004 Irish Amateur Open there.

Padraig Harrington has played in 38 World Golf Championship events – more than any other player. But if he doesn’t win the Portugal Masters this week or add the Andalucia Masters to his schedule and win that instead of playing in a clashing, $5 million invitational for 30 players in China, he’s unlikely to make it 39 appearances in next month’s WGC-HSBC Champions.

The $7m WGC HSBC Champions, which will be played in Shanghai from November 3-6, will featured a 78-man field of selected tournament winners and the leading non-exempt players from the tour money lists and the world rankings.

The eligibility criteria are complex to say the least, but Harrington can make sure of his places alongside Rory McIlroy, Darren Clarke, Michael Hoey and (almost certainly) Graeme McDowell, by winning at the Oceânico Victoria Golf Club near Vilamoura.

He was third behind Lee Westwood in 2009 and returns to the course with good memories.

Harrington said: “I played pretty well there on my last visit two years ago. I remember shooting 62 in the second round so it is a course I have played well on in the past.

“The field looks very strong for the Portugal Masters but I’ll be trying to concentrate on my own game and hope I can contend and pick up points towards the Race to Dubai and Ryder Cup qualification. It would be fantastic to win another European Tour title.”

Harrington is one of five Major Champions in the field for the fifth edition of the tournament, alongside American John Daly, Kaymer of Germany, Scotland’s Paul Lawrie and Spaniard José Maria Olazábal, the 2012 Ryder Cup Captain.

It’s a huge week on the Algarve for several Irish players as the race to earn tour cards and qualify for events such as the HSBC Champions or the season-ending Dubai World Championship enters the home stretch.

Seven Irishmen will tee it up in Vilamoura with their eyes firmly fixed on the €416,660 top prize. Peter Lawrie (60th in the Race to Dubai), Shane Lowry (62nd) and Harrington (71st) need cash to make sure they are in the top 60 following December’s Hong Kong Open who qualify for the European Tour’s Dubai World Championship finale.

As reported in Irish Golf Desk News