European Tour: Europe's top three players will fight it out for the German Masters this week, and for Colin Montgomerie a victory could be the most significant of his career.
Montgomerie currently lies third in the Order of Merit behind US Open champion Michael Campbell and South African Retief Goosen.
Regaining the title he won in 1998 would take Montgomerie to the top of the money list - unless Campbell finishes in outright second - a position he has not occupied since he claimed the last of his seven consecutive Order of Merit titles in 1999.
It would also extend to 13 years his streak of at least one tournament victory worldwide, and be an early boost to his chances of qualifying for next year's Ryder Cup at the K Club.
No wonder then that the 42-year-old Scot is stressing the importance of the 3.25-million event, which gets under way at Gut Larchenhof in Cologne today.
"If I win here I go to number one and I know exactly what to do when I get there," said Montgomerie, who was a lowly 25th on the money list last year and 28th in 2003.
"Last year I finished 25th, and to think about winning money lists again was a long way off. It's exciting talking about it, even to have an opportunity to talk about it. I'd wrap up the other seven and put them together and place this one ahead of them.
"I've always put a league table ahead of an individual performance for a week."
Ryder Cup qualifying for the European team to defend the trophy next September began last week, and Montgomerie is well aware of the importance of getting off to a good start.
He never recovered from a poor start to the race in 2003 and had to rely on a wild card for the first time in seven appearances.
It proved an excellent choice from captain Bernhard Langer, however, as Montgomerie won three points out of four and holed the winning putt to maintain his unbeaten singles record with victory over David Toms.
Montgomerie has the chance to accrue some valuable points in the final few weeks of the season, starting here and followed next week by the World Matchplay at Wentworth - where he has won three PGA championships - the American Express Championship in San Francisco, the Madrid Open and the Volvo Masters.
And he expects to see many of the same faces from that record-breaking victory at Oakland Hills in Ireland next September.
"I think the last team had a strong youth element, which is improving, and there are the likes of (Padraig) Harrington, (Darren) Clarke, (Lee) Westwood and me, who aren't going anywhere," he added.
"I don't see there is much change. David Howell is proving himself, Paul Casey, Luke Donald, Ian Poulter and Paul McGinley will be there again.
"There will be one or two changes of course, but the core of the team will remain the same."
Padraig Harrington defends his German Masters title this week at the venue where he made a timely return to form before last year's Ryder Cup. The Dubliner leads an Irish challenge that also includes Graeme McDowell, Gary Murphy, Peter Lawrie and Damien McGrane.
