There might be genuine intrigue over whether Padraig Harrington, last year's winner, or Justin Rose can overhaul Ernie Els in the race for the Harry Vardon Trophy that is awarded to the player who finishes top of the European Tour's order of merit.

Yet it rather diminishes the trophy that two in particular of the world's top players, namely Els himself, the world No.4, and Tiger Woods, the No.1, are not exactly falling over themselves to win it.

It hardly matches the passion shown by Europeans for the honour, most notably eight-time winner Colin Montgomerie, and just like the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award is restricted to Europeans, perhaps it is now time to consider following suit for the Harry Vardon Trophy which dates back to 1937.

Els, who will be 38 tomorrow, has twice had his name engraved on it, in 2003 and 2004, and is the fourth South African winner after Bobby Locke, Dale Hayes and Retief Goosen.

His seventh victory in the HSBC World Matchplay Championship at the weekend put him in pole position to win for the third time, except for the damning situation that he is now finished with Europe for the year.

He is taking a two-week break before missing the season-ending Volvo Masters at Valderrama and instead opting for an appearance-money slot in Singapore. That translates into desire for accumulating wealth rather than glory in Europe.

There is even more apathy in the case of Woods, who would already have wrapped up the trophy without a serious challenge had he gone so far as to fill in an application form for membership of the European Tour and played in just two more tournaments.

The minimum requirement for membership is 11 tournaments sanctioned by the European Tour. Woods has played in nine and has won three, two of them world golf championship events and the other the US PGA Championship, all in his native US.

His total official earnings from them is e4.5m, more than e2m ahead of Els. If he was recognised by the European Tour - and you have to do a general search on their website even to find the name of Woods - his position would have been unassailable.

Neither is it the first time this has happened. Colin Montgomerie's order-of-merit successes in 1999 and 2005 were also topped by Woods, as was Lee Westwood's in 2000, Goosen's in 2002 and Harrington's last year, giving these successes a hollow ring.

If this would have been Woods' sixth Harry Vardon Trophy, it is hardly of any concern to him. It is only major championships that count in his book - and money if you have $2.5m to spare for him showing up for a week - and his schedule is geared as far as possible to enable him to peak four times a year.

It is picked over in detail and prepared with tender loving care right down to the last minute of every day of every month of the year. He rarely exceeds 20 tournaments in a year, and an extra two tournaments abroad would be regarded as a major disruption.

Although he plays more tournaments than Woods - about 28 a year - Els, too, looks to peak around majors and said after his Wentworth win on Sunday that the Masters next April has been on his mind ever since the end of the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in August.

That is beginning to sound like Els is back in rude health possibly for the first time since the injury to his left knee in a freak sailing accident in the Mediterranean just over two years ago. His financial position looks equally good and the £1m prize at Wentworth takes his all-time booty from the European Tour to £15m.

He has been good to the tour and the tour has been good to him, and he was quite open in the aftermath that it was an embarrassment that he won't be at Valderrama because of a lucrative deal that was struck to take him to Singapore for three years.

With the disinterest shown by himself and Woods perhaps it is time for a change to ensure the trophy retains the dignity of the six-time Open champion it is named after and that it goes to a player who genuinely aspires to it.

Colin Montgomerie, defeated by Els in the first round of the HSBC World Matchplay Championship at Wentworth, has tumbled out of the world's top 50 for the first time this year and is now at No.51.

It might be premature to write off the 44-year-old who needs to be in the top 50 to play in the majors next year. It is often when his back is to the wall that he produces his best. Watch out for him next month at the Volvo Masters over one of his favourite courses, Valderrama.