Tour Scene News round-up: Much has changed for Darren Clarke since he took the 82nd shot of his second round to miss the cut in the British Open at Hoylake in July, his last competitive outing. On Thursday next, Clarke, who has been given a wild-card pick by Ian Woosnam for next week's 36th Ryder Cup at The K Club, returns to tournament action in the Madrid Open - his first competitive round in eight weeks - knowing every move and every swing will be deciphered in the run-up to Europe's defence of the trophy against the Americans.
Although no fewer than eight of Ian Woosnam's team will be competing in Europe this week, three of them in Madrid and five of them in the HSBC World Matchplay in Wentworth, it is Clarke's return that is probably the most important act of the final week before the Ryder Cup takes place.
Up to now, Clarke's preparations for a fifth successive appearance in the Ryder Cup have taken place in the privacy of the exclusive Queenwood Club outside London and a one-day reconnaissance trip to Straffan last Thursday.
"I don't think it's a risk at all," remarked Woosnam at the time of giving the Northern Irishman a wild card selection, adding, "He'll be playing there (in Madrid) under competitive golf, and I'm sure he'll be up to it. Darren's always been a great practiser and he always thinks well."
While obviously lacking the intense pressure of the Ryder Cup, the Madrid Open gives Clarke the opportunity to get in some competitive action ahead of the match itself. He is joined in Spain by Jose Maria Olazabal and Padraig Harrington, two other players who availed of the hastily arranged get-together at The K Club last week.
Clarke and Harrington, who has targeted the European Tour order of merit as one of his end-of-season goals, are part of a strong Irish contingent in Madrid. Damian McGrane and Peter Lawrie, each attempting to secure a place in next month's Volvo Masters, are joined by Gary Murphy, Michael Hoey, David Higgins and Stephen Browne, a quartet still fighting to retain their tour cards for next season.
The reappearance of Clarke in Madrid will deflect some of the spotlight from the World Matchplay, which has the biggest first prize in golf (1,460,000).
Tiger Woods, the world's number one, who has won his last five stroke-play tournaments, returns to Wentworth for the first time since 1998 when he lost in the final to Mark O'Meara.
Woods is one of only two US Ryder Cup team members in action; the other is Jim Furyk.
In contrast, five members of the European team - Luke Donald, David Howell, Colin Montgomerie, Robert Karlsson and Paul Casey - are in action, two of them in direct opposition in the first round on Thursday.
Howell, who won the BMW Championship on this course in May, is pitted against Monty, who in addition to being the 1999 champion won three successive Volvo PGA titles on the course.
The winner of that match will then meet either the defending champion, Michael Campbell, or England's Simon Khan, the tournament outsider who qualified on the special Matchplay qualifying ranking by finishing second to Howell in the BMW four months ago and then fourth in the Smurfit European Open in July.
Because Campbell, who beat Paul McGinley in last year's final, as holder, is the top seed in keeping with tradition, Woods and Furyk, elevated to world number two after his win in the Canadian Open, could meet in the semi-finals on Saturday. For that to happen, Furyk would have to beat Karlsson and then either six-time winner Ernie Els, who missed the event last year following knee surgery, or Argentina's Angel Cabrera, a beaten semi-finalist 12 months ago.
Casey opens against the fifth seed, South Africa's Retief Goosen, while the Australian Adam Scott, who beat Els in a play-off for the Singapore Open on Sunday, starts against the Canadian Mike Weir.
On the domestic front, the Sherry Fitzgerald-sponsored Irish PGA Championship takes place at Druids Heath, starting on Thursday, where Simon Thornton, current leader of the Irish PGA Order of Merit, and Damien Mooney, who is currently leading the Europro tour money list, are among those chasing the title.
Former Ryder Cup players Eamonn Darcy and Philip Walton are in a field that also includes ex-tour players Raymond Burns, Francis Howley, Stephen Hamill and Eamonn Brady, a past winner on the Canadian Tour.
