One last chance for lesser lights in Scotland

BY Bruce Young | European PGA Tour | 2002 Scottish PGA Championship | Preview | 18 Aug 2002

With due respect to such fine players, the European Tour offers one last opportunity, to other than the elite group, this week in Scotland before the Tour’s leading players return from the US.

Last year Paul Casey win his maiden tour victory in just his eleventh start as a professional and he will be here to defend. He did not exactly provide a lot of confidence for himself or his fans with an opening 85 at the PGA this past week but the 25 year old is a player of some promise and will surely bounce back.

The Scottish PGA will be played at the Centenary Course at Gleneagles designed by Jack Nicklaus some eight years ago and already scheduled to host the Ryder Cup in 2014. The course is one of three at the Hotel resort just west of Perth in Perthshire. It is both a fine golf course and spectacular with its backdrop of the surrounding mountains. Gleneagles also boasts two other fine course namely the King’s and Queen’s courses both designed by the five time British Open winner James Braid.

The field, whilst not including the elite of the European Tour, is still somewhat stronger than last week’s North West of Ireland event. Andrew Oldcorn, Paul Casey, Ian Poulter, Thomas Levet, Miles Tunnicliff and Consantino Rocca who seemed to find some long lost form last week in Ireland will all be there. Australians entered at this stage include Stephen Leaney, Adam Scott, Lucas Parsons, Nick O’Hern, Brett Rumford, Peter Senior, Peter Fowler and Scott Gardiner with New Zealanders Greg Turner, Stephen Scahill and Elliott Boult also scheduled to line up.