Absence of two big-name Scots in Nexo Championship line up explained

Hill, who sits 16th in the DP World Tour points table and is chasing a PGA Tour card for next season, has opted to skip the $3 million event at Trump International Golf Links due to personal reasons.

The 31-year-old US-based player will be back in action next week, though, in the Husqvarna British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo at The Belfry then pushing on for the remainder of the campaign.

Aberdonian Ramsay meanwhile, has been forced to miss out on playing in a tournament close to his home city due to the same injury that led to him withdrawing in Denmark last week.

“I have an issue with my neck or surrounding area that meant I couldn’t tee up in Denmark and also can't play this week,” the four-time DP World Tour winner told The Scotsman. “I will hopefully be back for the British Masters and continue my season from there.”

Having made just five cuts in his 15 starts so far this year, Ramsay sits 133rd in the Race to Dubai and faces a fight to hang on to the main tour card he’s held for 18 successive seasons.

Despite the absence of Hill and Ramsay, a total of 15 Scots are teeing up in this week’s $3 million tournament, which marks the end of the DP World Tour’s Closing Swing.

The Caledonian contingent is being spearheaded by defending champion Grant Forrest, who has been paired with Race to Dubai leader Patrick Reed and Chinese star Yanhan Zhou for the opening two rounds on Thursday and Friday.

Other notable groups include three-time DP World Tour winner Ewen Ferguson playing with Frenchman Martin Couvra and Jacob Skov Olesen while Aberdonian David Law is out with Japan’s Keita Nakajima and South African Dylan Frittelli.