The Johnnie Walker Championship takes place at Gleneagles this week but all the talk on the eve of the £1.4m tournament was of the Ryder Cup.

Given that the transatlantic clash is heading to Perthshire in 2014, it was hardly surprising, but yesterday was all wildcards this and points lists that. Even Donald Trump’s name was flung into the pot. In fact, it was all quite confusing.

Amid the baffling bletherings, there was a stern warning from Mr Ryder Cup himself, Colin Montgomerie, former European captain and tournament chairman of the Johnnie Walker event, which gets underway today over the PGA Centenary course.

The message was clear from the Scot. Every leading European player basing themselves in the USA, including Glasgow’s Martin Laird, runs the risk of not making the Ryder Cup team for the 2012 match at Medinah in Chicago.

Montgomerie’s concerns stem from the predicament he found himself in as captain this time last year when Gleneagles played host to the final counting event for European team qualification.

During his time in office, the 48-year-old had always stressed the importance of the Johnnie Walker showpiece to his Stateside stars. That was underlined when Italy’s Edoardo Molinari birdied his final three holes to win here and convinced the captain that he was worthy of a wildcard pick ahead of the then world No.9 Paul Casey, who had opted to remain in America to contest the FedEx Cup series.

The qualification process begins next week in Switzerland and will again conclude at Gleneagles and Montgomerie is hoping his successor, Jose Maria Olazabal, does not face a similar dilemma when it comes to finalising his 12-man side a year from now.

“I think it surprised us all that a world top-10 player didn’t make it and I do hope Olazabal doesn’t have that same issue because it was the most difficult decision of my time,” said Montgomerie, who will partner the Spaniard in the opening two rounds. “I asked the players to play in this event and one of the guys got picked, not just because he played in it, but because he won it.

“Olazabal will have a stronger representation of potential players [at Gleneagles] than I did. I think some of the players didn’t believe the risks involved in not making the top 10. You have a qualification and if you don’t make the top-10 you might not make the team and you can’t rely on a pick. If you base yourself in America, then you are taking a risk to make the Ryder Cup team, quite simple.”

For Arizona-based Laird, the Ryder Cup quest could be even more fraught. The two-time PGA Tour winner, currently 25th on the global pecking order, has decided not to take up European Tour membership until January and, thus, will not start earning qualification points until the new year

“That’s unfortunate for him and Scottish golf,” added Montgomerie, the last Scot to play in the Ryder Cup in 2006. “But Molinari managed to make the team by starting in January. He proved to me that he was capable of playing in a Ryder Cup and Martin now has to do what he did, win three times and get as close as possible to qualification.”

As the talk of 2012 and 2014 intensified, Paul Lawrie, who returns to action today after a five-week break, upped the ante by having a peek even further ahead to the possibility of another Ryder Cup in Scotland . . . in 2022.

Donald Trump may be about as popular as a £4 pint of beer in certain quarters of the Aberdeen area but Lawrie is clearly a fan of the tycoon and his plans for golf in the north east. The 42-year-old recently had a sneak preview of the £1bn Trump International Golf Links on the Menie estate just north of the Granite City and has been mightily impressed.

It will open for business next year and with a bid for the 2022 Ryder Cup very much on Trump’s radar, Lawrie believes there is no reason why those sky- high ambitions cannot be achieved.

“I only walked around for a couple of hours but you could have any tournament on that course, any tournament,” insisted Lawrie, who warmed up for the Gleneagles event by trudging the 97 miles of the West Highland Way last week. “Nothing would be too big and I don’t see why they can’t have the Ryder Cup.”

After a day of thoroughly exhausting cup chatter, it will be a relief when the Johnnie Walker Championship actually starts this morning.