In form Bjorn eyes top spot

You turn your back for a moment, take a week off, and what happens? Suddenly, what looked like a cosy cartel - with golfing buddies Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke at one and two respectively in the moneylist - is broken and the pursuit of the European Tour order of merit title is transformed into an open race.

Although Westwood and Clarke return to the fray for this week's Canon European Masters, the first counting tournament towards automatic selection on the European team for next year's Ryder Cup at The Belfry, Thomas Bjorn's success in Munich (which moved him to fourth in the moneylist and up to 16th in the world rankings) has added extra spice to a season which has been dominated by Tiger Woods.

In fact, the USPGA has already announced Woods as "player of the year" - three-quarters of the way into the season - but, at least on this side of the Atlantic, the destination of the number one spot is still up for grabs. Now, Bjorn has emerged as a genuine contender for the Harry Vardon Trophy, awarded to the leading money winner on the European Tour, with only Westwood, Clarke and Ernie Els ahead of him. And all within catching distance, even if Westwood remains an odds-on favourite with the bookies to take the title.

"I'm definitely back in the race," said Bjorn. "It's something I'm aware of, and I will try as hard as I can to get further up there, because you might never get the chance again. I hope at the end of the season that I am holding the trophy for the order of merit."

Indeed, Bjorn intends using that ambition to succeed Colin Montgomerie as leading money winner to aid his quest to secure a Ryder Cup place sooner rather than later. "Getting into the team is not my goal . . . getting into the team by the end of the season is my goal," he stated. "I think that's what I need to look at, to get it over with and not worry about next year. It would allow me to concentrate on other things."

The urgency to copper-fasten his place on the European team apparently stems from a conversation which Bjorn had with team captain Sam Torrance last week. "I am one of the best 12 players in European and Sam needs the 12 best . . . we need our 12 best in that team," insisted Bjorn, who missed out on last year's event in Brookline.

Bjorn is particularly anxious to regain his place on the European team - having made his debut at Valderrama in 1997 - and has recently instigated a junior programme in his homeland which, he hopes, will "make Denmark become the new Sweden" in terms of breeding tournament players. "Right now, however, I need to concentrate on myself," he said, a reference to his stated aim to overhaul Westwood at the top of the moneylist.

The Dane moved into the world's top-20 for the first time last week following a top-10 finish in the NEC Invitational at Akron and his BMW win - "This is a turning point in my career, definitely, because I won under pressure," he claimed - has lifted him to 16th in the latest world rankings.

Westwood and Clarke remain ahead of him in that particular category too, but the duo - who took last week off - are among many of the tour's big guns who are teeing it up in Crans, starting on Thursday, for the European Masters. Arguably, the most notable absentee is Colin Montgomerie, but Paul McGinley has also decided to bypass the tournament. McGinley, who is on holidays, is expected to kick-start his challenge for a Ryder Cup debut at the Lancome Trophy in Paris next week.

There are seven Irish players in action in Crans, the start of a 12month long qualifying process for the European Ryder Cup team. Clarke will be joined in Switzerland by Padraig Harrington, who was only a shot behind Bjorn at the midway stage in Munich before falling away to a tied-20th finish, Gary Murphy, Des Smyth, Eamonn Darcy, Ronan Rafferty and Philip Walton, who is playing on a sponsor's invite.

For the likes of Smyth, Murphy, Darcy and Walton, their respective battles to win tour cards for next season is of far more importance than the hunt for Ryder Cup points. Smyth's two weeks away from the circuit has seen him fall back from 106th to 109th in the moneylist. At least he remains on target to retain his card, with things very much in his own hands, but Murphy (132nd), Walton (158th) and Darcy (187th) all need to win significant cheques in the coming weeks to improve their chances.

While the European Ryder Cup points race is only getting under way, it is perhaps worth nothing that the Americans are half-way through their qualifying process which will conclude at next year's USPGA championship. Indeed, as thing stand, the 10 Americans who would qualify automatically for a place at the Belfry would be: Woods, Phil Mickelson, Tom Lehman, Hal Sutton, Loren Roberts, David Duval, Davis Love III, Kirk Triplett, Jim Furyk and Notah Begay. John Huston and Bob May are the next two in the current table. But the mid-order and loworder sections of that American table can expect to change by the time the actual team is finalised.

Meanwhile, David Higgins' missed cut in the Challenge Tour event in England last weekend didn't affect his status as number one in that order of merit. And, with his tour card already secure for next season, he won't have to worry about the tour qualifying school in November, the so-called "torture chamber." However, when entries for this year's qualifying school closed last Friday, there were 20 Irish players entered for the first phase which takes place at five venues (four in England, one in France) in two weeks time.

Among the Irish players who must negotiate stage one are Richard Coughlan, Paddy Gribben and former tour player Raymond Burns, while Ciaran McMonagle, last year's Irish amateur champion, also plans to take the first steps towards a professional career.