If Europe's golfing stars ever needed a reminder of how lucky they are to be in the business they are, it comes with the new Dunhill Links celebrity pro-am tournament on the east coast of Scotland which starts today.
The sponsors of the event are pouring so much money into it - £3.5 million sterling - that six players will walk away with six-figure cheques, and the winner will receive over £550,000.
Putting that into context, somebody could have won eight times on the European circuit this season and not earned as much.
Not surprisingly, therefore, the championship could decide the Order of Merit currently led by South Africa's US Open champion Retief Goosen, and has attracted all the tour's leading lights, as well as a long list of other sporting stars and actors like Michael Douglas and Samuel L Jackson and Hugh Grant.
Autograph hunters find themselves in paradise. Play is at St Andrews, Carnoustie and the new Kingsbarns course on the first three days, at the end of which the field will be reduced to the leading 60 professionals and the leading 20 teams.
They contest the final round over the Old Course on Sunday.
Such is the money awash in the sport at the moment, however, that while places were reserved for the world's top 50 only 13 are present - all European tour members.
The repercussions of the events of September 11th have not helped in that respect, of course, but US Tour stars do not need to travel to make a fortune.
Two who have made the trip are South African Ernie Els and Steve Elkington of Australia. Els, the two-time major winner, who turned 32 yesterday, partners his father, Neels, and said: "I suppose it was more my idea - we've played Pebble Beach together in a pro-am.
"He is a 13-handicapper, but a good one, although in the type of weather conditions we are likely to get this week (gales are forecast) it is going to be tough for all the amateurs."
There are forward tees for the amateurs and, to the relief of the professionals as well, the rough at Carnoustie is nothing like as ferocious as it was for the Open there two years ago.
"I was pleasantly surprised," added Els. "It was up to your waist two years ago, but they have chopped a lot of that back and the course is far more playable now."
Elkington stated: "All the bad stuff written about Carnoustie at the Open should now be retracted. We never got to see it then, but there's a great course underneath all that hay.The 38-year-old is partnering country and western singer Clay Walker."
Darren Clarke is paired with actor Michael Douglas and for him the week is serious business. He is in second place in the money list, but £440,000 behind Goosen.
"I don't think I will find this week relaxing, because it's a tournament I have to do well in for the Order of Merit," he said. "I'll be staying off the Guinness and out of The Jigger Inn."
That is the little public house beside the Old Course Hotel at St Andrews where golfers tend to celebrate or drown their sorrows.
"It's a huge prize fund and I feel I have to give it my all."
Both are also playing in next week's Madrid Open and next month's Volvo Masters, but Clarke does not intend to include the Italian Open in between.
Goosen, who partners his brother, Francois, and who like Clarke fell at the opening hurdle in last week's World Matchplay won by Ian Woosnam, commented: "It's going to be a great week, even though I'm not feeling too well.
"I had a cold last week, but hopefully I can get over it and feel a little bit better by the weekend.
"Playing with my brother will take a lot of the pressure off, but it's going to be quite challenging because you don't get into the routine of playing one golf course."
Clarke and partner Douglas will begin this week's challenge at Carnoustie. Other Irish challengers include Padraig Harrington, who will partner businessman Dermot Desmond over the Kingsbarns links, where Paul McGinley is teamed with actor Kyle MacLachlan.
Former European number one Ronan Rafferty is the one player in the 156-strong field who might well be out-scored by his amateur partner. Rafferty, unable to make a single halfway cut in 17 tour appearances this season, is partnering British amateur champion and fellow Northern Irishman Michael Hoey.
As a plus-three handicapper, Hoey has to give all the professionals a three-shot start as they are all classified as scratch players.
But the 22-year-old does have the advantage of playing off forward tees.
Des Smyth, Eamonn Darcy, David Higgins and Gary Murphy complete the Irish line-up.
