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| Colin Montgomerie Photo : Getty Images |
Peter Lawrie arrives in Scotland this week following a narrow defeat at the Czech Open in the second play off hole with Peter Hanson of Sweden and Gary Boyd of England at the Prosper Club on Sunday – with the Dubliner settling for a share of second place and a cheque for €173,710
The rest of the Irish field includes Paul McGinley, a 2010 Ryder Cup Vice Captain, Shane Lowry, Damien McGrane, Gary Murphy and Simon Thornton.
Most of the talk however leading up to this week has been about potential the Ryder Cup Wild Card picks that Colin Montgomerie will make this week with Padraig Harrington, Justin Rose, Paul Casey and Luke Donald all electing to remain in the United States.
So this year the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles looks set to deliver a fascinating end to a qualification process which began in the mountains of Switzerland last September as Montgomerie will select his three wild cards at the Gleneagles Hotel on Sunday.
Italian Francesco Molinari, Sweden’s Peter Hanson and Miguel Angel Jiménez of Spain are all aiming to hold onto their positions in seventh, eighth and ninth spots in the current standings.
Simon Dyson, Ross McGowan and Alvaro Quiros will be trying to force their way into the automatic qualification positions.
Dyson and Quiros must win in order to stand a chance of qualifying, while McGowan must finish no worse than second place at the end of a long and arduous campaign for all the potential Ryder Cup candidates.
Hanson, travels to the majestic Gleneagles buoyed by his hard fought play-off victory last week in the Czech Republic which moved him into the automatic Ryder Cup qualifying positions and he will be looking to cement his place in the side.
Montgomerie, who has won both the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and the Scottish Open in his homeland, is part of a strong Scottish contingent that also includes the in-form Stephen Gallacher, and South African Open Championship winner Richie Ramsay, as well as former Ryder Cup Captain Sam Torrance who extends his record for most European Tour appearances to 706.
So far, it is only Warren in 2007 who has been able to turn the home support to his advantage since the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles began in 1999 and after a top 30 finish in the Czech Open 2010 last week the man who partnered Montgomerie to World Cup victory in 2006 is looking forward to another shot at the title.
Peter Hedblom of Sweden who triumphed 12 months ago, finishing one shot clear of his compatriot Martin Erlandsson with Frenchman Grégory Havret and 1999 Open Champion Paul Lawrie of Scotland sharing third.
With a prize fund of £1.4million and first prize of £282,772 there is certainly plenty to play for in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles – for those not chasing Ryder Cup spots.
