Other than the Open championship and the Ryder Cup, Europe's top golfer Sergio Garcia has not played a tournament in Britain since 2002. But that changes now.

Having fallen to ninth in the Ryder Cup table - he led it after winning the opening event last September - the Spaniard made a late decision to add this week's Barclays Scottish Open to his schedule.

Paul McGinley, who consolidated his Ryder Cup position with an excellent finish at the K Club last weekend, is among seven Irish challengers at Loch Lomond.

Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell, Damien McGrane, Gary Muprhy, Peter Lawrie and Michael Hoey are also in action while Padraig Harrington has opted to skip the tournament ahead of the Open at Hoylake next week.

Garcia, who plays most of his golf in the US does not feel he will need to rely on being one of captain Ian Woosnam's two wild-card choices for the K Club.

"I want to get my points for the Ryder Cup," the 26-year-old Spaniard told reporters. "I should make the team by myself. I am in the team right now and I just need a couple of good weeks and that should be enough."

"I want to make a bit of an extra effort to get my place in the team, which I want to be in."

After the Scottish Open, world number nine Garcia will play in next week's British Open at Hoylake and in the Players' Championship of Europe in Germany the following week.

Despite showing enormous potential in his early years as a professional, Garcia has yet to land a breakthrough major.

"We always try to win majors but it is not a career-changing thing," said the Spaniard. "It would be great to pull one off but hopefully all the work I have been doing will pay off."

Asked if that was his way of easing the pressure, Garcia said: "I would love to win but if I didn't mind, then the last two and a half weeks I spent at home I would have just laid by the pool or the beach doing nothing.

"But that's not the case. I worked very hard to get my game in good shape."