WHO will back against West Region captain Michael Watson winning the new Order of Merit tournament for West Region professionals at Cumberwell Park next week?

After an incredible run of five wins in five weeks – the last by a sensational seven-shot margin at Taunton and Pickeridge, the Wessex Golf Centre player is on fire.

“I said when I became captain that I wanted us 40-year-olds to keep ahead of the youngsters – and that is mainly happening,” he said.

He is now fourth in the region’s “Race to Woodbury Park, in association with Johnnie Walker,” the newly-named Order of Merit and is determined to repeat his 2009 performance when he won the Play-Offs and qualified for several European Tour and Challenge starts last year.

The Cumberwell Park PGA West Region Players Championship, supported by Skycaddie, will staged on the club’s original Red and Yellow courses at the Bradford-on-Avon golf complex on July 19 and 20 Although 32-year-old Chris Gill leads the Race after winning the Microsoft Masters at Bowood last month, he will be challenged by a strong group of 40-plus-year-olds, among them Barry Austin who won the Total Triumph Classic at Oake Manor and Graham Howell (Ferndown Forest), the Bournemouth Festival winner.

Austin led the R2WP after two rounds but was absent from Bowood as he was playing in final qualifying for The Open but he is another player in form – as is Watson’s club colleague Jon Bevan, Lanhydrock’s Richard O’Hanlon, Exeter’s Gary Milne, new Wiltshire pros champion Andy Beal (Salisbury) and Minchinhampton’s Stuart Little.

After Gill, Cleeve Hill’s Russ Berry, Dinnaton’s Paul Hendriksen, Sidmouth’s Kevin Harper and Ridgeway’s Cennydd Mills head the younger contingent.

They are chasing a first prize of £1,415 with £945 on offer for second and £655 for third, as well as valuable points towards qualifying for the PGA Titleist Play-Offs in Turkey in November.

Former Wiltshire county captain Alistair James, the club’s manager, and English Golf Union coach John Jacobs have thrown their weight behind the new tournament.

James has accepted an invitation to play and will tee off first in a field of 126 players partnered by Martyn Thompson (Parkstone).

He said: “I am always seeking to raise the club’s profile and to stage a PGA Order of Merit tournament involving the leading players in Wales and the West is a further example of how highly the courses are regarded.”

The pre-tournament pro-am, the day before the main event, has attracted 32 teams so far.