World No 21

A debut win for Fasth around the West Course would be worth more than just £1 million; it would also give his hopes of becoming the first Swede to win the Order of Merit a huge boost. As things stand, Fasth is fifth in the European table, about £280,000 behind Padraig Harrington (mind you, Henrik Stenson, Fasth's compatriot, is in fourth place and may beat him to it).

Fasth seems almost certain to beat his best finish of tenth on the Order of Merit. That was in 2001, the year he came second in the Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes, three strokes behind David Duval.

A year later, Fasth played in the Ryder Cup that had been delayed by the September 11 terrorist attacks and was denied the chance to hole the winning putt by Paul Azinger chipping in from a greenside bunker at the 18th hole of their singles match. It is Fasth's only Ryder Cup to date and many are surprised that he had not played his way into contention in 2004 or 2006. In neither year did he have a particularly good record in the major tournaments, but perhaps his fourth place in this year's US Open signals a return to form.

Fasth certainly has the mental toughness to take on adversity. Having won the European Tour's Qualifying School in 1996, he came 28th on the Order of Merit in his rookie season but lost his card after a nightmare second year on tour. Undeterred, the Gothenburg-born player returned to school and came second to win back his card.

Like many leading European Tour players, he has chosen to make his home in England. He lives with his flame-haired wife, Marie, and two children in Ascot, not too far from the Wentworth estate. Normally, Marie does not watch her husband compete but she travelled to Munich in June to see him win his sixth European Tour event — the first time she had been there to see him win.

He hardly needs the outside support. Fasth is one of the coolest customers around, a skill he put down to a relaxation technique he learnt a couple of years ago. “You clench your first and you let it go, and you can use that contrast to feel relaxed in your whole body,” he said. Watch out for it.

Factfile

Age: 35 Nationality: Swedish Wins: 10 Major wins: 0 Major record in 2007: Masters: tied-55th; US Open: fourth; Open: tied-35th; US PGA: tied-42nd How he qualified for World Match Play: Fifteenth on Major Championship ranking Previous WMP experience: None