The Belfry in Sutton Coldfield, some 20 minutes outside Birmingham, was the last English course to host the Ryder Cup in 2002 -- the fourth time it has done so. The Belfry, the best-known of England's four prospects, is owned by a group of investors led by Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs.
Surinder Arora, the billionaire hotelier and one of the biggest landowners in and around Heathrow airport, has already started preparing Luton Hoo, a luxury resort in Bedfordshire, to host the tournament.
He will face stiff competition from fellow billionaire John Whittaker, the moustachioed Lancastrian behind Manchester's MediaCityUK and the Trafford Centre shopping mall, who is a preparing a new development at Hulton Park near Manchester.
Rounding out the quartet is The London Golf Club, near Sevenoaks, Kent, a newer course that has hosted the European Open.
Manoeuvring behind the scenes has already begun. City sources said that Whittaker had sought to join forces with Arora. High-level proposals envisaged Arora being handed the right to run the hotels at Hulton Park in return for dropping the Luton Hoo bid. The plans were not seriously considered by the Indian-born businessman, sources added.
The Peel Group, Whittaker's conglomerate, and Arora declined to comment on the discussions.
Whittaker's spokeswoman said: "The Peel group, owners of the Hulton Park project, are 100 per cent committed to the development of a world-class golf destination in northwest England, and retain our long-held aspiration to host The Ryder Cup.
"We have the full backing of Greater Manchester and Bolton, and we continue to discuss with partners how they can support our vision to deliver the most impressive Ryder Cup ever held in this country."
Arora said: "Luton Hoo will be a destination for the country to be proud of when it reopens as a Fairmont hotel with a world-class golf course designed for international tournaments we are putting all our efforts into making the best in Europe.
"There will be be no better home for the Ryder Cup and our plans, plus the location of the course, are the perfect combination. The government has championed bringing elite global sporting events to the UK and the Ryder Cup has been missing from our shores for far too long."
Chris Eigelaar, managing director at The Belfry Hotel & Resort, said: "We know exactly what it takes to deliver a tournament worthy of the Ryder Cup's history, power and gravitas.
"If ever given the opportunity to host again -- for a record-breaking fifth time -- we'd be delighted to welcome the greats of today to our world-class resort -- the place where so many legends, from Sam Torrance and Seve Ballesteros to Sir Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods, have made golfing history."
The London Golf Club did not comment.
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Luke Donald will this week captain Team Europe at the Bethpage Black Course on Long Island, New York, two years after Europe prevailed by 16.5 points to 11.5 in Rome.
The event swaps countries on either side of the Atlantic every two years. And venues up to 2037 have already been allocated with the exception of the 2035 berth.
Since the Belfry hosted the tournament in 2002, the Ryder Cup has been played at Celtic Manor in Wales -- a resort built by Welsh-Canadian magnate Sir Terry Matthews -- in 2010 and at Gleneagles in Scotland in 2014.
Although it is expected that in 2035 the competition will return to England, it is by no means guaranteed. Sources said that venues in Germany, France, and Denmark had made compelling bids to the European Tour.