Big cheque not enough to lure Euro stars

One of the richest tournaments on the European Tour schedule, the $5m (€3.7m) Dunhill Links, is on this week over three outstanding links courses on the east coast of Scotland — but just three members of the 2012 European Ryder Cup team are competing.

Perhaps even more disappointingly, there will be no sign either of Henrik Stenson, the impressive winner of the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour on Sunday night.

One wonders what sponsors Alfred Dunhill feel about this lack of support and whether they are seriously reconsidering their generous backing of the European Tour dating back to 1985 when they launched the Dunhill Cup, an international tournament catering for teams of three and won by Ireland in 1988 and 1990.