European Tour

After a rare week away from the links The European Tour returns for the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles where the Ryder Cup race for a spot on José María Olazábal’s European team will come to a close. Having recently been named as a Vice-Captain for the up-coming match, Thomas Björn returns to the scene of his second victory of 2011 where he won in a marathon five man, five hole play-off. The PGA Centenary Course has been much changed though, with new green complexes and a different lay-out on some of the holes, so a fresh test awaits and it promises to be another exciting week. Both The Challenge and Senior Tours are in action too, with the Speedy Services Wales Senior Open returning to their schedule at Conwy Golf Club, while an elite field head to the Rolex Trophy for a unique pro-am format in Switzerland. 

RACE TO DUBAI
Player Name Prize Money 1 Rory MCILROY €2,813,962 2 Justin ROSE €2,376,628 3 Louis OOSTHUIZEN €1,745,608 4 Ernie ELS €1,732,897 5 Graeme MCDOWELL €1,696,610 6 Francesco MOLINARI €1,695,377 7 Nicolas COLSAERTS €1,482,791 8 Luke DONALD €1,447,144 9 Lee WESTWOOD €1,417,370 10 Branden GRACE €1,407,799
View Full Race to Dubai Rankings Memories of striking the first tee shot of The 1999 Ryder Cup at The Country Club, Brookline, still give Paul Lawrie the shivers, but 13 years after his debut in golf’s greatest team event the former Open Champion can’t wait for a second bite. For months, despite his strong position on the Ryder Cup Qualification Lists, Lawrie has steadfastly refused to accept he was a certainty for the European Team bound for Chicago until the end of the qualification race, and while this week’s Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles is the final leg of the year-long quest, he cannot be caught and is finally prepared to openly talk about his return to the Ryder Cup fold. Only one place among the ten automatic qualifiers remains in question with Nicolas Colsaerts, bidding to become the first Belgian to play in The Ryder Cup, needing a finish of no worse than second with two other players to overhaul Martin Kaymer, and the 1999 Open Champion is therefore among the nine certainties. “It’s nice that it is done,” he said. “It’s been in the back and front of my mind for quite a while as you can imagine. It’s hard to get away from such a big tournament. I’m chuffed to be in, obviously.  It's been a long time.  It's been 13 years since I played last time, so can't wait.” Memories of that debut, when playing with Colin Montgomerie he hit the first shot of the opening morning, easily came flooding back. “Not sure if the opening tee shot will ever go away from me,” he confessed. “I still wake up with wee shivers of it.  “It was not pretty.  I was glad I did it, but the 15, 20 minutes beforehand, it was not great. “But these are things that you look back and you think, it was great to do.  You're standing there and there's everything moving apart from the ball, I can assure you.  And I hit an alright shot; as long as I didn't miss it, I'd have taken any shot, whatever came out of the bag. “And if I had a chance to do it again, I'd have to pass the baton on that, been there and done that, and let somebody else have the nerves.” Lawrie has had a week off since the US PGA Championship, undertaking work with sponsors and concentrating on practice especially with his putting, and after driving down from Aberdeen this morning, will see the modified PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles, host venue for The 2014 Ryder Cup, for the first time tomorrow. “I haven't seen the changes yet but I'll play it tomorrow in the Pro Am,” he said. “I’m looking forward to that.  It's a big week, especially for the Scottish lads, when you play in your home country, and hopefully there will be a big crowd out to watch the boys.  Can't wait.” Nicolas Colsaerts enters this week’s Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles chasing the final automatic spot in the European Team for The 2012 Ryder Cup after Sergio Garcia’s win in the USA earned the Spaniard a place in next month’s showdown at Medinah Country Club. The Spaniard moved into the eighth spot in the qualification standings with his first US PGA Tour victory in four years at the Wyndham Championship and in the process edged Martin Kaymer to tenth place and Ian Poulter out of the automatic places into 11th. With Kaymer not playing this week in Scotland, Colsaerts has the opportunity to beat the German to the post and claim the final place for the European Team’s title defence at The Ryder Cup, which takes place at the Illinois venue from September 28-30. The Belgian has been on the brink of qualification throughout this year, winning the Volvo World Match Play Championship in May to boost his credentials significantly, and he will need to win or finish tied second with no more than two other players this week if he is to steal the final automatic spot. His endeavours at Gleneagles could provide as fascinating a finale as in 2010, when Italian Edoardo Molinari won the title over the PGA Centenary Course to earn a Captain’s Pick from Colin Montgomerie. The wild card picks always provide an element of intrigue, and a number of players will nervously await José María Olazábal’s announcement on Monday August 27, the day after the conclusion of the tournament. Olazábal, who faces a busy week as he is also playing in the event, will have one final chance to run the rule over several contenders at Gleneagles. Rafael Cabrera-Bello and David Lynn will both be eager to impress this week in the hope of securing a Captain’s Pick, after falling out of the running for the automatic places in the wake of Garcia’s victory in North Carolina. The PGA Centenary Course – venue for The 2014 Ryder Cup – has undergone a series of enhancements under the guidance of the layout’s original designer, Jack Nicklaus, and the 2012 Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles will provide the first insight into how the world’s leading professionals respond to the remodelling. “The 18th hole was the biggest change,” said Nicklaus. “We dropped the green five or six metres and created a tremendous amphitheatre. It’s exciting - there will be birdies, eagles and bogeys on it and you’re going to get shots that change hands. I think they will enjoy it.” The tournament has become synonymous with tense finishes, particularly in 2011 when Thomas Björn, one of Olazábal’s Vice Captains, took the title after a five-man, five-hole play-off. It was the first time since 1992 that The European Tour had witnessed a five-man play-off, and Björn saw off George Coetzee, Mark Foster, Pablo Larrazábal and Bernd Wiesberger to claim his second of three wins that season. Paul Lawrie, who will definitely be part of the European Team in America next month, leads the Scottish contingent, which also features 2007 champion Marc Warren and Montgomerie, who will attempt to win the tournament for the first time. For the second successive year the Championship organisers have set the Friday ticket price to just £5. Once again Gleneagles will donate all the revenue from on-the-day ticket sales to clubgolf, Scotland’s junior golf development programme. Tickets are available at the course and at www.europeantourtickets.com. Parking is free. For full details on the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles visit www.johnniewalkerchampionship.com; for further details on The Gleneagles Hotel, visit www.gleneagles.com