In the wake of Spain's breakthrough victory in the Alfred Dunhill Cup, their teenage skipper, Sergio Garcia, is looking towards a new, £3 million end-of-season event in his native country. The inaugural WGC American Express Championship will take place at Valderrama on November 4th to 7th, the week after the Volvo Masters.

By way of promoting the tournament, Garcia has given a major press conference in Madrid. "I appeared on a prime-time television programme, which is not usual for a Spanish golfer," he said yesterday. "We were trying to do two things: tell the people about my first months as a pro and to educate them about Spanish golf."

Garcia went on: "I was telling them that golf is not only for the rich in Spain, which many people believe. We are trying to change the mentality and introduce the game to a wider audience. I think it was good publicity for the sport and I also feel sure that the two big weeks coming up in Spain will help."

Victory at St Andrews last Sunday was clearly a great boost, but Garcia is conscious that it happened some distance from the motherland. "For all Spaniards, it is important to play well in Spain and, if possible, to win in Spain before a home crowd," he said. "Playing at a wonderful course like Valderrama is good for Spanish golf."

He added: "I've only had one chance to play in front of a Spanish audience since I turned professional. That was in the Open de Espana when I was under a lot of pressure. Now, after what has happened in the last few months, I want to win. As I said when I won the Linde German Masters, that is what I'm here for - to win as many titles as I can.

"I remember my first sight of Valderrama was in an amateur match against Scotland. I played very well and shot 72. I just made the one birdie so I knew early on that it was a tough golf course. After that, I played a couple of times in practice rounds."

Garcia, whose next assignment is a debut appearance in the World Matchplay later this week, concluded: "As the last tournament of the season, I'm really looking forward to it. It would be awesome to win, but I'm going there to try and play my best and hope for something good."

Dunhill Cup colleagues, JoseMaria Olazabal and Miguel-Angel Jimenez will also be in action. And Jimenez, who was assistant to victorious Ryder Cup captain Seve Ballesteros there two years ago, had another rather special memory of Valderrama.

It was where he captured that most rare of birds, an albatross two, on the long 17th where he holed a three-iron second shot of 210 yards in the Volvo Masters in 1994.

Olazabal against Garcia is a mouth-watering possibility this week, especially as the former appears to be well on the way to curing his wayward driving.

But whoever Garcia plays, the match is sure to attract a huge following.

Three-time winner Els and former Open champion Price, whom Garcia beat 67-70 last week, are also playing and so are Parry, Ryder Cup Dubliner Padraig Harrington, Paraguayan Carlos Franco, South African Retief Goosen and, the least-known name, American Notah Begay, a Navajo Indian and winner of the Michelob Championship - and £280,000 - at Williamsburg, North Virginia, on Sunday.

From the obscurity of the Nike Tour last season, Begay has now captured his second event on the regular US Tour to pass $1 million in official earnings this year. By claiming top prize of $450,000 at Kingsmill, Begay moved to 29th in the money list with $1,111,114. More importantly, he will qualify for place in the lucrative Tour Championship on October 28th to 31st, if he holds his position in the top 30.

The 27-year-old, who was a member of the US Walker Cup team at Royal Porthcawl in 1995, is also in the running for the Rookie of the Year award in the US. All of this is on top of the distinction of becoming the first player to shoot a 59 in tournament play on the Nike Tour.

Garcia hogged the limelight at St Andrews, but it did not go unnoticed that Els was unbeaten and himself 10 under for four games.

Els may have departed earlier than he wanted - South Africa were hoping for a record third successive title - but he also heads for Wentworth in good spirits.

The summer has been something of a write-off for the world number seven and he said: "Coming to St Andrews I thought I had better do something.

"A little bit of focus, a little bit of determination and a couple of good rounds all helped my confidence."

He will be going for a fourth win in six years at the Surrey course, but for the first time is not likely to get a bye at today's draw.