The future of Justin Rose, regarded by some experts as the finest golfing prospect to emerge from this country in many years, could be settled after the Amateur Championship at Muirfield and Gullane next month.

The 17-year-old from Hampshire, who out-scored both Jose Maria Olazabal and Lee Westwood in an impressive performance in the Benson and Hedges International Open, where he finished on 286, two under par, is being wooed by three sports management groups who are now all anxious to sign him up.

If Rose, who was born in South Africa, fails to win the Amateur he will then consider turning professional.

However, if he succeeds then he has stated that he will remain in the unpaid ranks to play in next year's US Masters.

''I was pleased with what I achieved at the Oxfordshire. I would probably have settled for that at the outset,'' he admitted,'' but at the end I was slightly disappointed.

''On the final day, 74 was the worst score I could possibly have taken, having hit every green in regulation on the back nine holes.''

The International Management Group, Carnegie, and International Sports Management all wish to handle his career.

Former Amateur champion Peter McEvoy, who is captain of the Walker Cup team, said yesterday: ''Justin is a better player at this stage than Nick Faldo and Sandy Lyle. He is an outstanding prospect.''

If Rose is to prevail at the Amateur then he must beat the biggest and perhaps the best field ever assembled for the event.

One of his chief rivals for the title will be Spain's Sergio Garcia, also just 17, the current boys' champion who plays to a handicap of 5.5.

For those who wish to see the next generation, which this talented pair will most certainly head, then the East Lothian event will be the place to be to compare their respective merits.

Reigning champion Craig Watson, from East Renfrewshire, will return in an attempt to become the first player for two decades to successfully defend the title, the last being McEvoy, who won at Ganton and then Royal Troon.

Other main contenders include Walker Cup men Graham Rankin (Palacerigg), Cowal's Lorne Kelly, winner of the Lytham Trophy earlier this month, and the 1991 champion, Gary Wolstenholme.

There is, as usual, as strong representation from the USA whose challenge will be headed by George ''Buddy'' Marruci Jr and John Harris, members of the victorious 1997 Walker Cup team and current US Mid-Amateur champion Kenneth Bakst who, like Craig Watson, acquitted himself well at Augusta last month.

Last year's runner-up Trevor Immelman, of South Africa, the two beaten semi-finalists Colin Edwards and David Griffiths, David Gleeson, a member of the triumphant Australian side in the Eisenhower Trophy two years ago in the Phillipines, and Belgian Didier de Vooght, the reigning European individual champion, are also in a 534-strong field in which 26 nations will be represented, underlining the status and global appeal of the event.

q Miguel Martin, whose wrist injury forced him out last year's Ryder Cup in the most acrimonious circumstances, has found some compensation for missing out on the victory over the USA at Valderrama.

The R&A have granted the Spaniard an exemption from the final qualifying for the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

Martin would have gained automatic entry into the championship as a member of the European Ryder Cup team if he had been fit to play.

This was taken into consideration by the R&A in reaching their decision as he was not exempt under any other category.

q Ernie Els' delight at returning to the top of Sony World Rankings has been tempered by his despair at the burglary which took place at his house in South Africa.

Els learned of the break-in, in which he lost valuables and golf equipment as well as having a car trashed he learned from his mother,

However, Els is still committed to competing in the Volvo PGA tournament at Wentworth, which begins on Friday.