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A year after winning the BMW PGA Championship to become the world's top-ranked golfer for the first time, Luke Donald is back at Wentworth looking to successfully defend the title and ensure his return to the top of the pile.
In 2011, it was Lee Westwood who Donald dislodged to take the No. 1 spot after winning a playoff against his English compatriot. This time he has another Ryder Cup colleague in his sights: U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy.
McIlroy, Donald and Westwood are the star attractions at the ?4.5 million event, the ''major'' of the European Tour on a West Course that severely penalizes the most minor of errors.
Retief Goosen and Ian Poulter have had particularly strong opinions on the tough nature of the course as has three-time major winner Padraig Harrington, who disliked the Wentworth putting surfaces so much that he has stayed away from the event some years.
''I had been calling for the change of the greens and they have designed 18 tournament greens - they're certainly tough,'' Harrington said. ''Initially, they hadn't settled but as a championship golf course, it is now as tough as you could get.''
The halfway cut was 6 over par last year, which McIlroy only just made weeks before he grabbed his first grand-slam win at Congressional. Only 12 players finished better than level par.
Els helped toughen up the course two years ago and further changes have been made since last year, with No. 12 reverting to a par 5 and the fringe rough around the final green making it less likely that balls will spin into the water.
''Hopefully we'll have more smiling faces from the players this year,'' Els said Tuesday. ''You make changes on a great course like the West Course, people are going to not like it.
''That's part of what we do as designers, but we've passed that bridge.''
Donald is one of the few players to have mastered the venue of late, having finished second in 2010 and going one better 12 months later after Westwood - then the top-ranked player - found that water hazard at the famous 18th in the first playoff hole.
The 34-year-old Donald lost his No. 1 ranking to McIlroy in April, a month after losing it to the Northern Irishman for the first time after 40 weeks at the top, and has one win to his name in 2012 - the Transitions Championship.
Donald doesn't have to win at Wentworth to return to No. 1. If he finishes second, McIlroy would have to win to stay top and if McIlroy misses the cut, Donald can go above him by finishing eighth or better.
The flagship tournament will also have a massive bearing on Europe's Ryder Cup standings, four months ahead of the match against the United States at Medinah near Chicago.
Given the prize money and ranking points on offer, a successful week for a player in and around the top 10 on either the European Points List or World Points List - the two criteria for automatic qualification for the team - could give him a major boost to make Jose Maria Olazabal's lineup.
Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium is one of the players in contention and he heads to Virginia Water, just outside London, having crept into the current overall top 10 thanks to his victory at the World Match Play Championship in Spain on Sunday.
''It's always been a dream of mine as a kid to play (the Ryder Cup) but there's a long way to go, so I don't want to make any plans or anything,'' he said.
Former Masters champion Mike Weir of Canada has withdrawn from the field after injuring his lower back in the first round of the Byron Nelson last week and Simon Dyson, who was third here last year, is out with a hip complaint. But fellow Englishman Paul Casey - the 2009 winner - should be fit to start after missing the World Match Play with a shoulder problem.
Harrington, who is without a title in nearly four years, is now No. 95 in the rankings and is staring at the prospect of dropping outside the top 100 for the first time in 13 years. Such is the Irishman's form that he is likely to need a wildcard pick for the second straight time to make Europe's team for the Ryder Cup.
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