This week Damien McGrane has targeted four rounds at Seapoint Golf Club as the place to continue the form he has shown at the Austrian OpenGolf on Sunday and will play in 100th Irish PGA Championship joining fellow European Tour player, Shane Lowry, and local hero, Des Smyth, from the Senior Tour.
The six time winner of the event, Padraig Harrington – with three consecutive wins up to last year - misses out this season and will spend those same four days in Paris at the Vivendi Cup in preparation for the Ryder Cup the following week at The Celtic Manor.
The French event sees Harrington in his first European action since the 3 Irish Open in Killarney back in July.
It is also the first event since being named in the European Ryder Cup Team and will be an opportunity to meet up with 2010 Vice Captain, Paul McGinley, along with the rest of Irish contingent in Paris - Peter Lawrie, Simon Thornton and Gary Murphy.
The Vivendi Cup is part of “The Race to Dubai” on The European Tour International Schedule, is to be played at the outstanding Golf de Joyenval near Paris, France, from September 23-26.
The 2010 Vivendi Cup has a different format and new venue as a prelude to the following week’s Ryder Cup in Wales, unlike last year’s Vivendi Trophy with Seve Ballesteros, which took the form of a team event between Great Britain and Ireland and Continental Europe.
The event will be a 72 hole stroke play tournament, with the first 36 holes played as a Team Pro-Am event involving one professional and one amateur over the Retz and Marly Courses at Golf de Joyenval.
The leading 65 professionals and those tied for 65th place will contest the final 36 holes over the Marly course for a prize fund of €1,250,000 with €25,000 allocated to the team event.
Both the Retz and Marly courses were designed by the American architect, Robert Trent Jones Snr and provide the perfect challenge for an event that will showcase the talents of Europe’s finest professionals while allowing their amateur partners to be competitive too.
Speaking at the announcement of his decision to play this event some weeks ago Harrington said: "I am really looking forward to playing in the Vivendi Cup. Having heard many great things about the Golf de Joyenval, I am delighted to be playing there for the first time.
“I enjoy the Pro Am format very much and I will be playing with my brother which should make for a very enjoyable week."
