Preview & outright plays:
The final event of the year for the European Tour is a gathering of the top-66 players on the Tour in southern Spain. The field is comprised of the top-55 on the current Order of Merit, the last five winners of this event and six invitees. The Order of Merit title may have been decided, but there is plenty of prestige and money?to be had from winning this important event. The roll-call of winners is impressive with last year's winner, Pierre Fulke, being the biggest outsider to win this event (50/1) in its 13-year history.
Since the event moved from Valderrama to Montecastillo, the winners have been Jimenez, Clarke, Westwood and Fulke. This will be no putting contest where a ridiculously low final round score can produce a surprise winner. This is a course for good ball-strikers. In 1998, the top-7 finishers were all placed in the top-11 of that season's greens in regulation stats. The weather has played an important effect in the other years - it was shortened to 54 holes in 1997 and rain has a been a feature in the last two years - but it is still clear from the course compatibility stats that it is good ball-strikers who dominate. This may seem surprising as much is made of the wide fairways and little rough on this Jack Nicklaus-designed course, but the big hitters have not prospered on this course - the course is a decent test of golf and needs to be at a fraction over 7000 yards - and this looks set to continue with the weather forecast being for dry conditions.
The three selections this week are Retief Goosen, Colin Montgomerie and Peter O'Malley. Can't see any reason not to stay with the Goose who won the Open de Madrid to secure the Order of Merit title and maintain his run of top-10 finishes in October. He may have wobbled when winning this title and the US Open and in losing the Trophee Lanc?me, but he consistently getting into contention and winning more than most. A runner-up in 1999, he can cap an excellent season with another strong showing this week.
Monty is a player who looks past his prime, too easily frustrated by his game these last two seasons, but he cannot be written off at all. He has won twice this season already - the Irish Open in July and the Scandinavian Masters in August - and looked to be playing well on his last outing in Dunhill Links Championship, remember he has never been a good player of links courses, so a top-5 finish was a good achievement. His game is much more suited to inland courses of this variety where he has recorded sub-par rounds on all but one occasion since the event came to Montecastillo in 1997. If he wins this week, he should finish 2nd in the Order of Merit and that is not really indicative of a player past his prime.
The final selection was a 50/1 winner earlier in the season - at the English Open - and he retains those odds for this event as well. He has proved himself to be one of the most consistent players on Tour, he finished in the top-20 of every event bar one - 29th at the Scandinavian Masters - since the Dutch Open in July and finished 5th on his last appearance, the Dunhill Links Championship. He is much less likely to win this week than at the Forest of Arden because of the quality of the field, but he does have a fine record on this course - 5th-4th-10th in the years 1997-1999 - and if the winds blows, he should be able to reproduce that form again.
Outright plays:
Retief Goosen to win 12/1 e.w. @
Heathorns
Colin Montgomerie to win 16/1 e.w. @
Heathorns
Peter O'Malley to win 50/1 e.w. @
Sportingbet