The lure of precious Ryder Cup points, in this the second last counting week on The European Tour, will provide an intriguing backdrop to this week's £1 million Gleneagles Scottish PGA Championship at The Gleneagles Hotel.
No fewer than eight of the 14 players who currently occupy tenth to 23rd places on the European Team Rankings will tee up on the PGA Centenary Course, hopeful of moving into the top ten and into Sam Torrance's side for The De Vere Belfry in five weeks time.
Included in that number are an impressive list of winners already on The 2001 European Tour International Schedule.
Andrew Coltart, Robert Karlsson, Thomas Levet and Andrew Oldcorn, have all laid claim to silverware and all will be keen also to join Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen and Colin Montgomerie as multiple winners on Tour this season.
From the group, a victory might mean slightly more to Coltart and Oldcorn, coming as it would on home soil and giving the rejuvenated Scottish PGA Championship its first home winner in three stagings.
The inaugural Championship in 1999 saw England's Warren Bennett triumph in a play-off, while last year Sweden's Pierre Fulke began a glorious five month spell with a two shot victory over fellow countryman Henrik Nyström.
Fulke, of course, went on to win the Volvo Masters at Montecastillo in November before finishing runner-up in the WGC-Accenture Match Play in January, performances which guaranteed him the first spot in Europe's Ryder Cup team.
Designed by Jack Nicklaus and opened in 1993, the PGA Centenary Course is a modern classic and is sure to present a stiff examination for the 156-strong field who assemble this week.
As well as the demanding layout of over 7000 yards, competitors will find their concentration put to the test too by the stunning Scottish scenery which surrounds the 18 holes.
Fittingly, the course begins by playing southeast towards the famed glen of the eagles sweeping up the Ochil Hills to the summit of the pass below Ben Shee, which joins it to Glendevon.
As play moves westwards over the next few holes, the rugged Grampians come into view on the right, then distantly purple ahead, Ben Vorlich and the mountains above the Trossachs.
