Casey, the world No.4, has a rib injury that has kept him out of action since August and while his absence is a disappointment for the sponsors, it gives the 26-year-old Aberdonian a golden opportunity to retain his card for 2010.

The former US amateur champion is in his rookie year on the European Tour and is currently lying at No.141 on the Race to Dubai order of merit. He needs to rise 26 places to be safe.

Ramsay said after leaving Gleneagles at the Johnnie Walker Championship last month that all he needed was one good finish. Having developed his game at Royal Aberdeen he is at home on links and this could be his chance.

Steven O’Hara, who is also in danger of losing his card, is now first reserve while Callum Macaulay is third and still has hopes of receiving the last of the sponsor’s 20 invitations to enable him to join his Eisenhower Trophy team-mates Gavin Dear and Wallace Booth who are making their professional debuts by invitation.

Meanwhile in Estonia, David Drysdale and Alastair Forsyth moved up one place to sixth in their quest to qualify for the World Cup in China in November.

With a fourball round today and a foursomes round tomorrow still to come they need to climb into the top three to avoid Scotland missing out for the first time on the World Cup that Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren won two years ago.

Drysdale and Forsyth had a one-under-par 71 in yesterday’s foursomes for a four-under aggregate of 140 to lie eight shots behind leaders Stephen Dodd and Jamie Donaldson who had a six-under-par 66 for Wales yesterday.