While some of our players were thinking about what might have been at the weekend, two others were discovering what’s going to be.

Chris Wood once again showed in Germany why he is close to a maiden win while Simon Wakefield was a runner up in Scotland. But Richard Finch and Matthew Baldwin are heading for Royal Lytham and St. Annes after coming through Open qualifying at Sunningdale.

Chris is a very good player who is continuing to improve and should not be too downhearted about third place at the BMW Open, finishing just one shot out of a play-off.

The big breakthrough is not very far away and I would not be in the least bit surprised if it comes this season.

Simon Dyson continued his steady recovery from injury with a highly commendable 12th while both Shiv Kapur and Matthew Nixon were inside the top 25.

Simon Wakefield’s runner up came at the Scottish Hydro Challenge after losing out in a play-off and he now moves into third in the feeder tour’s rankings.

Chris Lloyd was tied seventh on nine under, while Nick Dougherty took another step towards regaining his playing privileges by also finishing inside the top ten.

But there was no doubt about who was smiling broadest on Monday night.

Richard Finch is heading for the Open after finishing tied fourth at qualifying and it was a double for Matthew Baldwin after he finished alongside his ISM colleague just a week after playing in the US Open for which he also had to pre-qualify.

Now all eyes are on Ireland this week after the Irish Open returns to Ulster for the first time since I had a full head of hair.

Royal Portrush plays host and no doubt the eyes of the R & A will be on this scenic corner of the province to see how it copes with record crowds. Darren Clarke may well one day get his wish and see the Open return there.

Darren makes his return from a groin problem on his home course and is really looking forward to welcoming his European Tour colleagues to one of the world’s most outstanding links courses.