The Holywood-man will tee-off with South African Ernie Els

The Holywood-man will tee-off with South African Ernie Els on Thursday morning, with Martin Laird also in the group.

Casey called it "a grind", while Poulter said after a second-round 74 completed with a double-bogey seven last May: "You're watching, you tell me, is it fun?"

"That wasn't the plan," said Els. "He didn't hit that bad a shot. The penalty was quite severe.

Head greenkeeper Chris Kennedy described discount golf clubs as "the most difficult build up I have ever known", adding: "March was the warmest and driest in 120 years and April was the wettest on record.

"You make changes on a great course like the West Course people are going to not like it.

Els hopes the moaning and groaning about his new-look Wentworth becomes a thing of the past this week.

Royal Portrush seems to be the epicentre of all golfing matters this year with the Irish Close championship there this weekend (Friday to Sunday), the Irish Open scheduled for June 28-July 1, and the amateur North of Ireland championship from July 9-13.

"It's history and we've patched things up with all the players. You're not going to please everybody, but I don't believe everybody should criticise just because there's changes."

At The Island in north County Dublin, the Irish Women's Open Stroke Play championship takes place over 54 holes on Saturday and Sunday. Leona Maguire (Slieve Russell) launches her defence of the title.

"Now May is shaping up to be the coldest in decades. We've had hail, white frosts and driving rain. It's been so hard getting quality grass to grow."

The former world number three felt more pain in the shoulder he dislocated snowboarding on Christmas Eve and last week fell out of the game's top 50.

"I'll go it full whack then," he said. "I've got to get my brain to trust that I can't hurt it any more.

"The way it was put forward the first year Taylormade Rocketballz Irons was a little childish (he hated the fact it was played out in the media rather than in private), but hopefully we'll have more smiling faces from the players this year.

Further changes have been made since, among them the 12th hole reverting to a par five and the fringe rough around the final green making it less likely that balls will spin into the water — as happened to Westwood as he lost a play-off and the world number one spot to Luke Donald.

"It's amazing how the brain controls the body almost involuntarily. I'm frustrated, but I'm not stressed about it because I believe I can still play better golf than I ever have before."

l THE elite competitors in Irish amateur men TaylorMade R11S Driver  and women's golf will be on display at two renowned links courses in the north and south of the island.