Playing in the BMW PGA Championship will be a new world for Mark Staunton as he brushes shoulders with the world's golfing elite for the first time.
However, the slim six-footer from Ballinasloe, Co Galway who is attached to the Black Bush Club at Dunshaughlin, Co Meath, is not worried about the task ahead.
"I'm delighted to get the chance to test myself on that stage," enthused the 2007 Irish Region Order of Merit winner, who will line up alongside the likes of Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen and Justin Rose.
"The biggest tournament I ever won was the PGA Ulster Championship last year but I will get a sample of what's ahead at the Irish Open. Leading the Order of Merit got me into that event, as well. It's my first ever European Tour event."
Staunton took a trip over to Wentworth to case the course and was excited about what he found having never been there before.
"I played a round at Wentworth and it is a very big course. Ernie Els has certainly left his mark on the place," remarked Staunton, one of 10 regional PGA professionals to have secured a spot in the richest event on the European Tour with a prize fund of £3.6 million.
Staunton, 26, has gradually worked his way up the ladder from amateur youth golf to being a leading professional on the Irish Tour. He played in the Connacht Youth team from 2001 until 2003 when he made his debut on the provincial senior side and in the Irish Youth team.
That year, he also won the Ulster Youths' Championship at Royal County Down. Two years later he won the PGA Irish Assistants' title and after another two years collected the Ulster Championship crown on his way to winning the Order of Merit.
"I feel that I have been making steady progress and it is very nice to get this chance to play alongside the cream of the tour players," he said.
"I'm really looking forward to the challenge but I am not setting myself any targets. I don't know that if I was to make the cut after playing poorly or miss the cut after playing really well would be best".
He hopes that one day he will be a regular on the European Tour.
He'll go to the Qualifying School for the third time this year, feeling a lot better prepared than in the past. He says that he learned a lot from his previous two visits.
Last season, Staunton finished fifth in the PGA Irish Championship won by Padráig Harrington for a fourth time at The European Club. He'll be back at the Co Wicklow venue for the championship again in July but for the present only the BMW PGA Championship occupies his thoughts.