Glasgow golfer Chris Kelly has had to wait over 14 months to defend his Scottish PGA Championship title.

But the Tartan Tour star hasn’t been bothered about that as he had to wait 12 years to claim a second national crown.

Kelly won the Scottish title for the first time back in 2003 and bridged a long gap in May 2015 by edging out fellow Glasgow man Paul McKechnie to the prize in a play-off.

This year’s showpiece, which celebrates its 100th staging over the King's Course at Gleneagles, has been moved to an October date which has left Kelly holding on to the trophy a bit longer than the traditional 12 months.

Kelly, bidding to become the first player to win back-to-back titles since Ross Drummond in 1989 and 1990, said: “I must already be the longest-running PGA champion.

"Winning the event last year was probably better than my first victory back in 2003 as I thought successes like that had passed me by. I had also put a lot of effort into last season so it was good to see that rewarded with both my Scottish PGA Championship and Northern Open victories.”

In a 66-man field which features 11 past champions, Kelly will face some stiff competition in Perthshire. Greig Hutcheon, the dominant force on the domestic scene for the past few years and a two-time winner of the Scottish PGA crown, heads a list of likely lads which also includes former national champions Alastair Forsyth and Chris Doak as well as sturdy campaigners like Graham Fox, Gareth Wright, Scott Henderson, Jason McCreadie and the O’Hara brothers, Steven and Paul.