Record prize money of £2,200,000 has been confirmed for the tenth edition of the Smurfit European Open at The K Club, Straffan, Co Kildare in Ireland from July 1-4, 2004, an increase of £200,000 on 2003.

The increased prize fund maintains the progressive growth of the Smurfit European Open in the decade since the inaugural event in 1995. In that year, the total prize fund was £650,000 and the first prize collected by Bernhard Langer of Germany was £108,330.

This year, the winner will take home £366,660 from the prize fund of £2,200,000. Between 1995 and 2004, prize money for the Smurfit European Open, totals £14,571,347.

Ken Schofield, Executive Director of The European Tour, said: ‘This is another important milestone in the Tour’s special relationship with the Jefferson Smurfit Group. We congratulate Dr Michael Smurfit on setting a new landmark for the Championship with a prize fund of £2.2 million that will be warmly welcomed by all our Membership.

‘The previous nine Smurfit European Opens at The K Club have all been unqualified successes, and we can now look forward to another enthralling edition over the new South – now the Smurfit Course – in July.’

Meanwhile, The K Club confirms that the North and South Courses are to be re-named. The North Course, which has hosted the previous nine Smurfit European Opens, will assume the name of their illustrious designer, Arnold Palmer. The South Course, also a Palmer design and opened for play last year, will in future be known as The Smurfit Course.

The Palmer Course will stage next year’s Smurfit European Open with the tournament reverting to The Smurfit Course in 2006 – the same year that The 36th Ryder Cup Matches are played over The Palmer Course.

Dr Michael Smurfit said: ‘We felt that, as there are many courses the world over which operate under the titles of ‘North’ and ‘South’, that this would give The K Club a more distinctive flavour.

‘Arnold is delighted to have his name attached to the North Course, which has matured into one of the finest courses in Ireland and will be a wonderful venue for The Ryder Cup in 2006, while I am very proud of Arnold’s latest creation, the South Course, which we inaugurated with the Pro-Am in aid of the Special Olympics prior to last year’s Smurfit European Open.’

Additionally, Diageo Ireland are delighted to announce that they are to become one of the three Partner Sponsors of the Smurfit European Open through the Budweiser brand. An Official Sponsor since 1995, Diageo Ireland join Fáilte Ireland and Lucent Technologies as the tournament’s Partner Sponsors in a new three-year agreement.

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