Ryder Cup course won't spare players' blushes

Par-3 14th on the Palmer course

With the eyes of the world on them, the Ryder Cup players from Europe and the United States are going to have to avoid some embarrassing situations during the three-day series of matches.

Three-putting, fluffed chips and drives finding watery graves are all expected to contribute to red faces on both sides.

While the greens on the Palmer course are more suited to the Europeans - Woosnam has demanded they're kept below 10.5 on the stimpmeter - the fairways might appeal to the Americans with little run on them after heavy rain deluged the course yesterday.

Officials will decide each day whether preferred lies will be enforced to avoid 'mud balls'. Whether 'preferred' means within six inches (no nearer the hole) under European Tour rules or one club length (under US PGA Tour legislation) has yet to be confirmed.

As for the rough, it has been allowed to grow up to six inches deep and will be lush and wet, with more rain forecast through the weekend.

Woosie's banking on his players being able to hit not only long, but straight.

One expert referred to the longer grass just off most fairways as 'brutal' - so expect some high scoring on some holes and it's not inconceivable that double-bogeys might be enough to win some holes.

As is their prerogative, Woosnam and his lieutenants, Des Smyth and Paul Broadhurst, have introduced some run-off areas and hollows around some of the greens. Used to playing shots from these kind of tight lies around the world, they're hoping Europe's wedge skills will provide a significant advantage over the USA's home-spun rookies.

Experience of the course, which has staged ten Smurfit European Opens, is also vital to the home side and just as much an advantage as the partisan Irish crowd.

It starts gently enough with two par-4s, with the third a 170-yard par-3 over water and a steep-faced bunker. The fourth (568 yards, par-5) sweeps downhill to a green peppered on its boundaries by bunkers.

And if the players think the long, uphill 5th and downhill 6th are tricky - they're nothing compared with the 7th (430 yards, par-4), which has a narrow fairway flanked by water which encroaches in to the front and back of the green and is played into an inevitable stiff breeze.

16th hole beside The Liffey

The par-5 10th provides respite to today's long hitters with the 11th needing accuracy off the tee to find the green which drops away towards a lake. More water threatens the par-3 12th and par-4 13th before reaching the delightful 14th a 213 yards par-3 where the undulations making putting a real art of speed and line.

More water threatens the par-4 15th on the right before the par-5 16th (555yards) demands decisions to be made regarding risk and reward. The tee shot has to be long and straight to bring the green into play in two shots. It's perched on an outcrop beside the river and demands nerve and accuracy.

The 17th hole probably cost Thomas Bjorn his place in the team. It was here that the Dane hit three drives into the Liffey when leading the European Open in 2005. He took 11 shots on this par-4 and eventually lost out to Kenneth Ferrie.

Captain Ian Woosnam perhaps feared it had too many bad memories to risk Bjorn being one of his two wild card picks.

Palmer course - closing hole

Fans banked around the final green will be hoping to see plenty of action as players take on the 537-yard par-5. A drive needs to avoid a nest of bunkers at the top of the hill before hitting a fairway metal or long iron approach to a 60-yard green perched on the edge of the lake.

The hole provides a fitting climax to a course, which will provide some thrilling moments as well as embarrassing ones.