Forget the $64,000 question. It’s the $500 million quandary as far as Robert MacIntyre is concerned.

The vast riches of the PGA Tour in the good ol’ US of A are lying seductively on the horizon. There’s just one problem. All the money in the golfing world may not be enough to lure the 27-year-old away from his Oban home.

As the DP World Tour campaign heads towards the closing stretch, MacIntyre is on the cusp of earning one of 10 cards to the promised land of the cash-sodden PGA circuit.

While that golden ticket offers up boundless opportunity, it will also lead to a considerable amount of upheaval. Sacrificing the home comforts to pursue the American dream is not giving him nightmares – well, not yet anyway – but the prospect of life on the other side of the pond has given the Scot plenty to ponder. It’s a slightly bigger Atlantic crossing than nipping down to the Clachan Bridge and hopping over to Seil.

The memories of a winning debut in the Ryder Cup are still fresh. They’ll never leave him. After achieving a lifelong ambition and experiencing the giddy highs that came with European glory, MacIntyre now needs to reassess his career journey.

“I’ve always said I could happily retire after it (the Ryder Cup),” admitted MacIntyre, who is enjoying a week off after the rigours of the Ryder Cup and the weather-delayed Dunhill Links Championship. “Obviously, at 27 I’m not going to retire because there’s plenty more in the tank. It’s about resetting the goal now.

“Is it about winning a major now? Is that my goal? If it is then how do I achieve that? America is the big one but I’m such a family guy and Oban is my base and I don’t know if I want to move my whole base to America.”

Apparently, there is a place called Oban in California. There’s also one in the Democratic Republic of Congo but that’s no use. For MacIntyre, there is only one Oban. Home is where the heart is. And the shinty too.

“It’s just working out where’s best to go,” said MacIntyre, who had a brief stint in the US as a student at McNeese State University in Louisiana. “Realistically, it is not about me, it’s about my family. Where’s best for them to get to as quickly as possible? Because I struggle to be away on my own for a long period of time.

“That’s why I went back to play shinty. I struggled at the start of my career. I had made something like 15 cuts from 17 events but I was still, like, ‘I’ve had enough of this’. It’s just about finding the right place.

“What’s more important? Work or life? That’s the way I see it and my life is more important than work. I’m a realist and if the pinnacle of my golfing career was the Ryder Cup then so what, it’s been a great journey.

“I know in my own head that’s not the pinnacle, it’s not the peak where I want to finish. But I don’t know if I’m willing to sacrifice everything I need to sacrifice to achieve what I want to achieve in golf. I don’t know if life comes before my golf?”

The American way of golfing life ain’t for everybody. Paul Lawrie, for instance, dipped his toe in the PGA Tour waters after winning The Open in 1999 but never settled and his family back in his native Aberdeen came first. “I’ve spoken to a lot of the guys about it and some love it and some guys hate it,” added MacIntyre.

As for commuting back and forward to the US? Well, that’s not quite as easy as darting from his house to Glencruitten Golf Club.

“It’s a difficult thing to do,” he reasoned. “If I’m going to do it (the PGA Tour) it can’t be a half-measures job.

“If I’m going to go and give it my best shot it will be to try to win major championships. Just now I feel I can win one major living where I live and that’s The Open.

“I just need to re-evaluate what my next goal is, what gets me out of bed and chasing my dreams. I did it this year by chasing that Ryder Cup spot. I’ve got some big decisions coming up.”