Walton will have his work cut out in strong field

PHILIP WALTON is not a man to complain about his misfortunes on the golf course. After all, he has won £1,335,343 in prize money on the European Tour alone since he turned professional 13 years ago.

Walton's problem, however, is that, of that sum, only £71,565 has been won this year, and he is currently only 79th in the Order of Merit.

"It's been a bad year for me, he admitted as he practised for the Loch Lomond World Invitational tournament which begins today.

I need another £40,000 at least if I am to make the top 50 and qualify for the Volvo Masters in Valderrama next month, so it would be great, if I could do well here this week.

But Walton may have to do better than well. The £750,000 prize money on offer makes this inaugural Loch Lomond event one of the richest of the season and it has attracted one of the best fields.

Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie and Ian Woosnam will begin as favourites for the £125,000 first prize, but they will have strong opposition.

Of the 12 members of the 1994 European Ryder Cup team, an event in which Walton had his finest hour, only Seve Ballesteros and Bernhard Lager are missing.

Every other top European of note is also competing along with Australian Robert Allenby, winner of three Tour events this year, Zimbabwean Mark McNulty, who has won twice and New Zealander Frank Nobilo.

Walton may have his work cut out: "I've only got three tournaments left to make the necessary £40,000 for Valderrama. Apart from Loch Lomond. I'm playing in the European Open in Dublin next week and then the German Masters in Berlin.

"I'm not playing in the Oki Tournament in Madrid, and the Fourball in Bordeaux, in which I'm playing with Raymond Burns, does not count towards the Order of Merit." So, it's almost a case of now or never for Walton on one of the most difficult courses in Britain, a course on which Montgomerie bays he would be happy to take level ar 71s.

Four 71s on this course would be a very stiff target to beat, says Montgomerie, and Walton is in full agreement.

While the Malahide man hopes for a sizeable cheque, his Dublin colleague, Padraig Harrington, has a very different target.

Harrington is vying with Scotland's Raymond Russell for the Rookie of the Year title. Both have far exceeded their expectations this year, and both have won a Tour event Russell at Cannes in April followed three weeks later by Harrington in Madrid.

Just a week ago, Russell was £22,457 ahead of Harrington and seemingly the Rookie title was almost his for the taking. But, at the Lancome Trophy last week, Russell missed the cut while Harrington finished joint seventh and won £16,753.

This closed the gap to £5,703, so the battle is now intense. Both are trying to take a laid back attitude, but both are determined to finish as top dog.

While Walton and Harrington go for their respective goals, six other Irishmen, Paul McGinley, Darren Clarke, David Higgins, Eamonn Darcy, Ronan Rafferty and Des Smyth, will also be chasing both big cheques and Ryder Cup points.