Volvo Masters Betting: High-class finish in prospect for Order of Merit's final goodbye

Golf Events / Tareq Quiroz / 29 October 2008 / Leave a Comment

Tareq Quiroz previews the Valderrama event, where Europe's elite gather with the last ever Order of Merit title up for grabs.

For those of you that are fans of low scoring tournaments filled with birdies galore then these last few weeks have been perfect. Everywhere I looked last week there were incredible sub-70 scores being shot. But for the big one this week you will have to be content with good old fashioned pars. The Volvo Masters is the big season-ending finale for the European Tour's big guns and it has all the makings of a cracker.

The Course
Valderrama needs very little introduction to the seasoned golf fan. For all but a few years it has been the permanent home of the Volvo Masters and also played host to the first ever Continental Europe based Ryder Cup in 1997. The course measures just under 7,000 yards and will probably be one of the shortest tracks these players perform on all year. Do not let that fool you though, as this is one of the toughest tests on tour. The fairways are narrow and sloping, whilst the greens are small and very tricky to read. Suffice to say the kind of player you are looking for this week is someone who can keep the ball in play and has plenty of patience.

The Favourite
The top-60 players on the European Tour get the chance to take home this coveted prize so it takes a pretty special player to take the favourite's berth. That man is last week's winner Sergio Garcia. He was in great form on his home course and, while it could be argued that he should have performed so well on a course he knows inside out, that doesn't take away from his top class performance. He is the deserved market leader this week despite the presence of three-time major winner Harrington and the likes of Karlsson and Westwood. Garcia has yet to get over the winning line at Valderrama but has finished second here three times in the last four years. His confidence is high, he loves the course and quite rightly he has to be the pick of the week at current odds of [7.0].

The Next Best Bets
At this time of the year it is easy to dismiss most of the field for one reason or another. It has been a long hard season and that is only too apparent in many of the players. Someone who will be looking to end an average year in style is Paul Casey. It hasn't been his best year but his best form has come at the back end of this season and I get the feeling he is ready to strike. A couple of top-tens in his most recent European Tour events show he is in decent nick and I expect him to be right in the mix this week. At current odds of [30.0] he has to be in your staking plan this week. Of the other market fancies I have to mention that I think last year's winner Justin Rose is a little too big at odds of [32.0] for those of you looking for a bit of value.

The Massive Outsider
In a field of just 57 you would imagine it would be pretty tough to find many decent outsiders but if you are prepared to take a chance then the opportunities are there. A couple immediately take my attention and the first of those is Ryder Cupper Oliver Wilson. The young Englishman has been in great form this year without quite getting the win. His form tailed off a little after the Ryder Cup but I am sure he is well up for this test on a course that suits his game perfectly. At current odds of [130.0] he has to attract your attention. The same goes for fellow Englishman David Howell. Do not discount this guy from your equation this week as he has two recent top five finishes on this course and is a class act. You could do worse as a saver at [110.0].

Interesting Info
Amazingly in 2002 the Volvo Masters was shared! Montgomerie and Langer finished tied and after a couple of play-off holes darkness descended and the two players agreed to share the title as opposed to coming back the following day to finish. Watch out for the 17th hole as we have had two albatrosses there in recent years but with water guarding the green we have also seen some horrendous double figure scores on this great hole.