The host nation of the 2018 Ryder Cup will be the first to be determined by a formal tender process, and the competition is heating up.
In an interview with Golf365, the European Tour's Ruder Cup director Richard Hills revealed how the process has been made "more concrete".
The 2010 tournament, held in Wales, was hailed as a success despite the unwelcome weather pushing the tournament into an unprecedented fourth day.
And now numerous countries are vying to be the host when some of the world's top golfers don their Lyle & Scott clothing to take part in one of the sport's most prestigious competitions.
"Essentially this is the first time we have made the bid tender process formal," Hills said.
"Admittedly Celtic Manor, Gleneagles and Slaley Hall were all up for consideration at the same time (when all wanted to host the 2010 tournament) but we've made the process more concrete.
"Those past bidders might have addressed similar issues but the evaluation panel now has six criteria set in place as recognised requirements."
The five bidding nations are France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands.