Darren
Clarke joined Colin Montgomerie yesterday in suggesting that he may return to
Scotland in August for the £1million Gleneagles Scottish PGA Championship, rather
than travel to Akron in the United States for the £3.6million NEC Invitational.
The possibility of two players ranked in the world’s top ten choosing to leave
a World Championship event off their schedules is a tribute to the appeal of Gleneagles
and the efforts of the organisers, who nearly tripled the prize fund.
"I would like to play Glen-eagles," said Clarke. "I’ve enjoyed playing there in
the past - it’s one of my favourite places. They’ve done a fantastic job to get
such a big prize fund. On the other hand, I want to get as high up the world rankings
as I can, and more of the best players in the world will be at the NEC."
The Scotsman revealed in May that Monty was giving serious thought to including
Gleneagles on his schedule rather than the NEC. Yesterday, he confirmed that he
was still mulling over the possibility.
The top 12 on the European Ryder Cup table are eligible to compete in the NEC,
and at the moment Andrew Coltart is another Scot who is qualified to play in Akron
as well as tackling the PGA Centenary course.
His manager, Andrew Chandler, indicated yesterday that if Coltart was still in
the frame when the World Championship field is finalised, a decision would be
taken about where he plays that week, on the basis of what was more likely to
help him into the Ryder Cup team.
If it was felt playing well at Gleneagles would be more beneficial to Coltart
than playing indifferently in Akron, then he, too, might opt to support the event
in Scotland.
