Douglas Lowe on Tuesday: The Jekyll and Hyde character of Scottish golf was exposed again yesterday when the professional world golf rankings were released without a Scot in the top 100 for the first time.

The Jekyll and Hyde character of Scottish golf was exposed again yesterday when the professional world golf rankings were released without a Scot in the top 100 for the first time.

Alastair Forsyth, the top-ranked Scot, was down four places to No.102 while the out-of-form Colin Montgomerie had slipped to No.114. At no time since the rankings were introduced in 1986 has that happened, with players such as Sandy Lyle, Sam Torrance, Gordon Brand Jr, Montgomerie and Paul Lawrie all regulars in the top bracket at one time or another.

Yet this latest negative sign comes hard on the heels of the highly-positive success of our Scottish amateurs winning the Eisenhower Trophy for the World Amateur Team Championship in Australia, to complete the double with the professional pair of Montgomerie and Marc Warren having won the World Cup for Scotland in China last year.

Figure that one out. By scaling the heights, our players have shown they can live with the best, and not just in the team environment. Individually, there are a host of current players who have not yet hit 40 and are proven winners on the European Tour: Lawrie, Forsyth, Warren, Stephen Gallacher, Gary Orr and Scott Drummond.

The figures don't lie, though, and results within the world ranking system that are crunched over a two-year period show that such triumphs are thin on the ground. The ability is there but not the consistency and there are implications for next season's major championships and further ahead to the 2010 Ryder Cup.

The foundation for entry to the majors and to the world golf championships is the world's top 50, which is extended to the top 64 for the world matchplay and 100 for the US PGA Championship. Although there is still time for a surge up the rankings, Scottish presence at the top table next season is likely to be based on past glory.

As things stand, Sandy Lyle, as the 1988 Masters champion, is the only Scot in the field for Augusta National in April, and that would be the case for the second year in a row, while the US Open at Bethpage is currently Scot-free. Onward to the Open at Turnberry and Lyle and Paul Lawrie, the winners respectively in 1985 and 1999, are our only men.

There is a chink of light, though, for Montgomerie. Entry to the Open has been extended by the R&A next year from the top 20 on the European order of merit to the top 30, and Montgomerie is sitting at No.25. That will give him an incentive this week to stand his ground at the season-ending Volvo Masters at Valderrama.

With Forsyth and Orr just missing out on the field of the Volvo Masters - it is restricted to the top 60 in Europe - the only other Scot in action there this week is the in-form Lawrie at No.39, and a good showing would give him entry to the Turnberry Open on a second count.

In the final major of next season, the US PGA at Hazeltine, Forsyth at present is the only Scottish starter. That is because of his joint-ninth place finish this year at Oakland Hills, the best performance by far from a Scot in any of this season's majors.

This year's Ryder Cup at Valhalla was the first in modern times without a Scot taking part. Qualifying for 2010 starts in September and the Scots must start hauling themselves up there next season into the top 50 otherwise the prospects for the 2010 match in Wales will also look bleak.

The best Scots have to be in the world's biggest tournaments - and performing well - if they are to have a chance of selection to the European team.

If you're looking for young blood to come through, then Richie Ramsay and Martin Laird have shown great promise this year, Ramsay by winning twice on the Challenge Tour, lifting him to third-highest world-ranked Scot at No.152, and Laird with a great run on the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup play-off series in the US. Ramsay has finished No.8 in the Challenge Tour which will give him a step up to the European Tour next season (along with Steven O'Hara, who, at No.9, effectively retained his playing rights), while Laird has a battle on his hands on the PGA Tour.

The top 125 keep their cards and, after his joint-34th place finish in last week's Frys.com Open that was worth almost $24,000, he has stayed exactly where he was at No.128 with a season's tally of $776,000.

He has two tournaments left to rectify that, though failing to do so would not be disastrous as he will have around 20 starts next season by remaining within the top 150.

The world-ranking gloom may be upon us, but there are signs of light on the distant horizon.