Record Prize money of £1,500,000 - an increase of approximately £150,000 - will be on offer at the 2000 Smurfit European Open at The Kildare Hotel and Country Club (The K Club), Straffan, Co. Kildare, in Ireland, on July 6-9.
The total prize money of £1,500,000 (approximately 2,444,000 euro) will provide a first prize of £250,000 (approximately 407,000 euro) for the 23rd edition of the Smurfit European Open.
Ken Schofield, Executive Director of the European Tour, said: "The Jefferson Smurfit Group pointed us toward the new Millennium with the spectacular growth of the European Open, and we congratulate Dr Michael Smurfit on setting a new landmark for the Championship with a prize fund of £1.5 million that will be warmly welcomed by all our Membership.
"All five Smurfit European Opens at The K Club have been unqualified successes, and we can now look forward to another enthralling edition at the 2005 Ryder Cup venue."
England's Lee Westwood won the 1999 Smurfit European Open with a superb closing round of 65 for a 17 under par total of 271 - three ahead of Ireland's Darren Clarke, winner of the recent WGC-Andersen Consulting Match Play event, and Australia's Peter O'Malley.
Dr Michael Smurfit said: "Lee's success last year in a grandstand finish provided further evidence of our belief that the popularity of the Smurfit European Open has increased both with the players and the public since being played at The K Club.
"We are delighted to be able to announce prize money of £1.5 million and feel that this increase once again demonstrates our intention to continue to grow and enhance The Smurfit European Open."
Westwood will be bidding to become only the second player in the history of the Smurfit European Open to successfully defend the title - Sweden's Per Ulrik Johansson won in 1996 and 1997 - although Bernhard Langer (1985 and 1995) has also won the title twice.
Other Smurfit European Open champions include Sandy Lyle (1979), Tom Kite (1980), Greg Norman (1986), Ian Woosnam (1988) and Nick Faldo (1992), all winners of major championships.
Peter Davidson, Chairman of the European Open Golf Championship Ltd, said: "The arrival in 1995 of The Jefferson Smurfit Group as sponsors of the European Open together with Bord Fáilte's support, initiated an important partnership, and we look forward to the traditional, knowledgeable Irish spectators enjoying another outstanding contest this year."
The 2000 Smurfit European Open once again boasts a blue-chip line-up of support sponsors with Aer Lingus, AIB, Ashworth, Esat Digifone, The Gartner Group, Guinness, Renault and Rolex.
Season tickets for the 2000 Smurfit European Open are priced at IR£60, and daily tickets are priced at IR£12.50 (Wednesday), IR£17.50 (Thursday) and IR£25 (Friday-Sunday), although a saving of up to IR£5 can be made on daily tickets by calling the Advance Ticket Hotline on +353 1 662 1155. Tickets for Seniors Citizens are priced at IR£6 (Wednesday), IR£8 (Thursday) and IR£13 (Friday-Sunday).
Corporate Hospitality is being sold by WSL and Corporate Sport and Leisure, official hospitality agents to the Championship, and this can be booked by calling: +353 1 601 7340 or +353 1 676 6650.
The Kildare Hotel and Country Club is located 17 miles from Dublin and was developed by The Jefferson Smurfit Group Plc. Designed as a total leisure resort, the complex incorporates one of Ireland's AA rated five-red-star hotel and a full facility Country Club of which the focal point is the Arnold Palmer designed golf course. The K Club, as it is known, is set in 330 acres and the Championship course, which measures 7,159 yards, has also hosted the PGA Cup Matches and the Smurfit Irish PGA Championship. The Kildare Hotel and Country Club is to host the Ryder Cup Matches to be staged in Ireland in 2005.
