By Iain Carter BBC Five Live golf correspondent

In the first of his fortnightly reports from inside the ropes, our man meets a Ryder Cup hero, compares calendars and hears why Michelle Wie will not be at the British Masters.

Soon after Europe's record-breaking Ryder Cup victory at Oakland Hills, Paul McGinley told me of his determination to be in the side for the next contest with the United States at the K Club.

Given that he'd scrambled into Bernhard Langer's side on the very last day of qualification I wondered, at the time, about the likeable Dubliner's chances of making it to the first Ryder Cup to be held on his home soil.

McGinley came to the Belfry straight from a night out at School Disco

It had taken a Herculean effort to make it last time and for this year's match the prospect of playing in such a unique Irish occasion would bring with it even greater pressures.

So it was with great pleasure that my meeting with McGinley at the Belfry this week was a relaxed affair in familiar surroundings.

"We're in the room where Sam (Torrance) held all the team meetings in 2002, it's the first time I've been in here since then," said McGinley, the man who holed the winning putt for Torrance's team on that occasion.

McGinley never tires of being asked about that magical moment, "Nor should I, it meant so much to so many people," he says.

Nor does he shy away from his prospects of making his third Ryder Cup in September. "I'm 90% there and my first priority for this year is to make absolutely certain of my place," he said.

Having won the Volvo Masters and reached the final of the World Match Play since the qualifying period began, McGinley has every chance of becoming one of the first names to book an automatic spot.

Where better for McGinley to do that than at the Belfry itself, the new home of the newly named Quinn Direct British Masters?

In early May it'll be the first time the European Tour will have staged an event at the former Ryder Cup home since 2003.

Sutton Coldfield might not seem so bad when faced with this tee shot

The Belfry has become one of British golf's more popular venues and so its return to the roster is cause for celebration.

So why is everybody at the European Tour so glum?

Because tour boss George O'Grady faces huge challenges in trying to arrive at a calendar for 2007 in the wake of changes to the American schedule next year.

Take the British Masters, which if it retains the same date as this year will clash with the Players' Championship - the one the Americans like to call the fifth major.

Sawgrass or Sutton Coldfield? Sadly you wouldn't find the cars of Europe's leading players clogging up Spaghetti Junction.

So a new date for the British Masters will have to be found, one that suits the European Tour and BBC Television at a time of year when the sporting calendar is as congested as those West Midlands motorways.

Also at the Belfry that day was Darren Clarke, and told me that he and his fellow members on the tour's Tournament Committee will be discussing the implications of the American changes at length.

Golf will continue to come second to his wife's health for Clarke in 2006

Clarke, meanwhile, still can't make any long-term plans because of his wife Heather's ongoing battle with cancer.

Of the Ryder Cup, he said: "Obviously I want to try and make the team, but for me that's a little bit too far in the future.

"It's something I would dearly love to play in but if there are things taking place which mean I can't then so be it. I'm trying to keep my feet firmly on the ground and don't get excited about too much."

All being well Clarke will be at the British Masters, but Michelle Wie certainly won't. Promoter Chubby Chandler believes players should be there on merit, not by invitation because of their gender.

Chandler admitted that Wie would bring plenty of publicity to the event, but added, "she would be expensive and we don't pay appearance money anyway".

A much better bet to be there would be one of Chandler's newest recruits to his International Sports Management stable, Ernie Els.

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