In a golfing sense, we have simply moved next door, a drive and three wood from Quaker Ridge. But Winged Foot, with its greater length, narrower fairways and forbidding rough, will present a far more formidable test when the US PGA Championship gets under way on Thursday.

It is a crucial event for US Ryder Cup aspirants insofar as skipper, Tom Kite, will announce his line-up for Valderrama at 8.0 a.m. local time next Monday. And several of the 14 European challengers, including Padraig Harrington, will also have their sights on precious points from an anticipated prize fund of $2.5 million.

Though Philip Walton was tied 39th at Riviera in 1995 and missed the cut by a shot last year, David Feherty is the only Irish player to have made a significant impact on this event. With a four-under-par aggregate of 284, he was tied seventh behind John Daly at Crooked Stick in 1991, so gaining automatic entry into the 1992 Masters.

Events in Prague last weekend have had a fascinating impact on European Ryder Cup prospects, with the rise of Ignacio Garrido to sixth in the European table and certain selection. But there has been no real movement in the US standings, given that the Buick Open went to an overseas player, Vijay Singh.

As things stand, Justin Leonard, Jim Furyk, Scott Hoch and Tommy Tolles would be newcomers to the American line-up, with Davis Love hanging on precariously to the 10th automatic place. But the main talking point here concerns the likely wild card choices.

It is generally accepted that Fred Couples, currently 16th in the US Ryder Cup standings, is certain to be one of Kite's selections. The other pick, however, is more difficult to predict. My feeling is that it rests between Tom Watson (17th) and David Duval (15th).

Though he has yet to win as a professional, 25-year-old Duval was among the group of players who went with Kite to Valderrama prior to last month's British Open. As for Watson: Kite will be acutely aware of the putting lapses which made Curtis Strange a disastrous wild-card choice two years ago.

When the USPGA field was finalised last week, it contained 87 of the top-100 players in the Sony Rankings. Darren Clarke is now 30th in that elite list and a further reflection of his growing status in world golf is a highly attractive draw this week with Phil Mickelson and Nick Faldo.

Harrington's steady progress is also reflected in an improvement of 18 places from 12 months ago to a current 77th. One of his playing partners will be the experienced American Robert Gamez. He will be recalled for an outrageous eagle two on the 72nd hole of the Nestle Invitational in 1990 when a holed seven-iron of 176 yards, gave him a one-stroke win over Greg Norman.

Norman was also involved in dramatic events at Winged Foot in 1984 when he tied Fuzzy Zoeller in the US Open, only to lose the play-off by eight strokes. Like Quaker Ridge, it is a no-frills, traditional layout with a number of dog-legs carved through a forest of more than 20,000 trees.

Dominated by the Eastern white pine, most of the trees and shrubs were carefully placed during the design process by the celebrated American architect, A W Tillinghast, and have been sculpted over the years to provide a strategic test of golf.

Against that background, it is perhaps superfluous to point out that each of the 69 bunkers has a reason for being there. They are severe, with high lips and placed tight to the putting surfaces. So, a bunkered approach on the same side as the flagstick is a guarantee of bogey or worse, unless a player happens to get lucky.

"One thing Europeans don't do quite as well as the Americans is drive the ball straight," said Ian Woosnam, who was runner-up to Strange in the 1989 US Open at Oak Hill. "In Europe, courses are not set up so you have to drive it straight on every hole. US Open and US PGA courses are."

Bernhard Langer, who gained his 50th tournament victory in the Czech Open last Sunday, concurred with his European colleague. "We're not used to the severe rough and narrow fairways," he said. "You just don't see those kind of conditions on the European Tour."

About 25,000 spectators are expected each day of the tournament which is a total sell-out, apart from a few tickets for Thursday. So, local police and officials will be especially watchful for scalping and counterfeiting. "It's something you have to expect when there are huge numbers of people interested in an event," said one official.

Interest has been heightened considerably by the appearance of Tiger Woods, whose current well-being was evident in an eighth-place finish behind Singh in Michigan. As he approaches the end of his first year as a professional, the 21-year-old has earned $1.7 million in prize money but will collect a further $20 million in off-course earnings in 1997.

Meanwhile, his long-term endorsement contracts are estimated to be worth $95 million. They comprise: Nike (his own line of clothes) - $40 million; Titleist (golf clubs, bags and balls) - $20 million; Rolex (watches) - $15 million; American Express - $13 million; All-Star Cafe - $7 million.

Equally staggering, however, is the number of deals that Woods has turned down. And the royalties which he is to receive from each garment when the Nike clothing line is launched, are expected to make his $8 million per year (over five years) contract appear trivial.

While eager crowds awaited his arrival for practice at Winged Foot yesterday, they settled for autographs from his caddie Mike "Fluff" Cowan. Indeed, he even posed for photographs with the more persistent of them.

Finally, the manner in which Americans cherish their champions will be illustrated this afternoon when 12 former US PGA winners hold a special clinic at Winged Foot. Among them will be five-time winner of the title, Jack Nicklaus, defending champion Mark Brooks, 1991 winner John Daly and the 1989 champion, Payne Stewart.

Four players - Tiger Woods, Tom Lehman, Justin Leonard and Jim Furyk - are now officially in the US Ryder Cup team, having passed 860 points in the current standings.

US Ryder Cup Standings: 1 Tiger Woods 1,185pts; 2 Tom Lehman 1,016; 3 Justin Leonard 888; 4 Jim Furyk 867; 5 Phil Mickelson 809; 6 Mark O'Meara 801; 7 Brad Faxon 727; 8 Scott Hoch 711; 9 Tommy Tolles 689; 10 Davis Love 657; 11 Jeff Maggert 646; 12 Steve Jones 579; 13 Mark Brooks 549; 14 Paul Stankowski 503; 15 David Duval 470; 16 Fred Couples 458; 17 Tom Watson 433; 18 Michael Bradley 402; 19 John Cook 376; 20 Kenny Perry and Steve Stricker 372.

European Ryder Cup Standings - 1 C Montgomerie 842,230; 2 D Clarke 593,990; 3 I Woosnam 505,574; 4 B Langer 504,907; 5 L Westwood 459,530; 6 I Garrido 366,396; 7 P-U Johansson 333,710; 8 T Bjorn 327,011; 9 M A Martin 324,400; 10 C Rocca 314,555; 11 P Harrington 288,870; 12 J M Olazabal 266,784; 13 P Broadhurst 255,644; 14 R Chapman 242,372; 15 J Haeggman 242,350; 16 M James 237,609; 17 S Torrance 236,130; 18 D Gilford 213,232; 19 P Mitchell 210,794; 20 R Claydon 198,415.

Irish positions in the European Order Of Merit: 3, Darren Clarke £414,854.95; 10, Padraig Harrington £221,829.45; 33, Paul McGinley £119,355.61; 52, Philip Walton £87,644.10; 77, Raymond Burns £62,432.40; 92, Ronan Rafferty £48,056.48; 101, Eamonn Darcy £45,831.05; 120, Des Smyth £35,733.03; 156, David Higgins £17,348.69; 158, Christy O'Connor Jnr £15,250.24; 203, John McHenry £2,010.00.