And indeed, nothing but the finest would do for our noble contestants. A field of talent with possibly enough glitter to put the shine back on Gary (sorry, poor taste). Sadly not as large as in previous years: Happy Gilmour Maxwell out injured… Cap'n Slowhand Erdal gone fishing…Morrison playing daddy to newborn twins (congrats!)… Willy Shades Clark testing a revolutionary type of new sunglasses in sunny Spain... and the fiercely competitive Bridges stuck in the dank Emerald Isle due to his personal jet developing a last-minute technical fault. But the news all reporters was hanging on was of course the return of pin-up golfer El Niño. Maclean claimed that he had done very little preparation in the past year "except drink Bacardi Breezers and hang out with my pals".

But the world of golf knows better than to underestimate him. With Chipper Wilson's handicap slashed so low that a fourth victory looked nigh on impossible, would that leave the gate open for successful challenges at last from previous year's close runners Jennings, Monaghan and Jago? Or would the experience of the seasoned ex-champs Smith, Sparks, High and Harper win the day? And of course no one would be foolish enough to write off the peerless golfing icon of the whole tournament, the inspiration for many aspiring juniors and the Dudley Open reigning champ: Dr Golf. Like Greg Norman, Vic has spent a lot of time focusing mainly on his business interests this year - could he still generate some of the old golfing magic?! In short: a tournament to relish, and a trophy to die for!