So here we go again.
With the Ryder Cup teeing off at Gleneagles later this week, Scotland is once again the centre of the world's attention. After the Commonwealth Games and the independence referendum we should be getting used to it.
The sport of golf, of course, has long been drawing tourists and participants to Scotland. VisitScotland has estimated that the game contributes somewhere in the region of £220 million each year to the Scottish economy. More than 140,000 tickets were sold during the Open at Muirfield last year (though that figure was seen as something of a disappointment). And Gleneagles will no doubt provide a further economic injection, as well as a sporting spectacle.
Hopefully the excitement of the Ryder Cup can be spread far beyond Gleneagles itself. Fan zones are being set up in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Perth to this end. And then there is a potential television audience of more than half a billion people. If we are lucky the weather will play its part in showing off the country to its best.
The challenge, of course, is how we sustain international interest once this annus mirabilis is over? That may prove a challenge beyond even Paul McGinley.
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