Three members of Europe's 1999 Ryder Cup team will contest the Madeira Island Open this week, all looking to kick-start their careers at Santo da Serra.
Jarmo Sandelin, Andrew Coltart and Jean Van de Velde were on the losing side at Brookline six years ago and have not come close to qualifying for the team again.
Sandelin's last victory was in the BMW Asian Open in 2002, Coltart's at The Great North Open in 2001 and van de Velde is best remembered for the one that got away in the British Open at Carnoustie in 1999.
Van de Velde can at least point to a serious knee injury which has plagued him for more than two years and required two bouts of reconstructive surgery.
But Sandelin and Coltart have simply struggled to rediscover the form which took them to Brookline, and now find themselves competing in an event co-sanctioned by the European Tour and Challenge Tour, while seven of their Ryder Cup team-mates contest the first major of the season in the US Masters at Augusta.
Should this week's Madeira winner emerge from the Challenge Tour ranks, he will receive automatic promotion to the European Tour for the remainder of the 2005 season and a one-year exemption for 2006, while any Challenge Tour player finishing in the top five will make a significant surge up the Challenge Tour Rankings.
Ireland's Michael Hoey, whose early season form saw him rise to sixth in the Challenge Tour Order of Merit with earnings of almost €30,000 will be hoping for a return to that form this weekend.
Hoey will be joined by regular tour members Damien McGrane, Philip Walton, Peter Lawrie, Gary Murphy, David Higgins and Stephen Browne in the race for a first prize of €100,000.
"I think a lot of things changed after the Ryder Cup," said Sandelin, "I got married, we had children and then you have different priorities.
"I'm not saying that's the reason I lost the game but since 2002 it has been a downhill ride. I look forward to when the rollercoaster comes back up again, it's a lot more fun when you are up at the top."
Coltart only retained his playing rights for 2005 due to his position on the tour's career money list but insists he remains as ambitious as ever.
"I watch my colleagues that are doing well on the world stage now, at the TPC, at the Masters this week, and I want to get into the top 50 in the world and win tournaments," Coltart said.
Meanwhile, Portuguese Open winner Paul Broadhurst has been fined €750 for his late withdrawal from the event.
Broadhurst, who won his first tournament for a decade last Sunday, said: "The times I've won before I've never had a week off afterwards and never played very well. I think I deserve a week off to celebrate."
