Gleneagles event likely to continue after 2014

ORGANISERS of the Johnnie Walker Championship are keen to see top-level events being played at Gleneagles beyond 2014, when the PGA Centenary Course stages the Ryder Cup.

This year's Johnnie Walker, the final counting tournament for the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor, will be the 11th under the Diageo banner at the Perthshire venue, which was a popular home of the Bell's Scottish Open between 1987 and 1994.

"Gleneagles is a venue that's held very fondly by the Scottish public and, while the fields at the Dunhill Links and the Barclays Scottish Open are mostly stronger than here, I think we sit nicely within that group," said Graeme Marchbank, tournament director of the Johnnie Walker Championship and head of corporate sponsorship at Diageo.

"Our vision runs up to 2014 and we'll take the opportunity to review that as we get closer to the Ryder Cup. But, as long as our strategy within Scotland and for Diageo and Johnnie Walker stays the same and the event delivers towards these objectives, we would want to continue with it."

The challenge of the PGA Centenary Course has changed quite a bit from the original layout designed by Jack Nicklaus and, to accommodate stands behind the green at the 12th for 2014, it was shortened last year from a par-5 to a par-4. There have no more physical changes since then, but it is still a possibility that the 18th will be altered in time for the Ryder Cup.

"That is something we're looking at, but we don't have a finalised design change," said Scott Fenwick, the Golf Courses and Estate Manager at Gleneagles. "If we change it, will we take criticism? A lot of thought has to go into it."