Order of Merit / Bill Elliott / 28 October 2008 /

Bill Elliott has witnessed many an Order of Merit battle on the beautiful battleground in Sotogrande but this will be his last as the European Tour switches its focus to Dubai in 2009.

A little piece of European Tour history comes to an end this week with the final playing of the Volvo Masters at Valderrama and the last Order of Merit title being awarded at the same time.

Next year, of course, the Order of Merit is replaced by the so-called Race To Dubai. Actually, make that next week because the 2009 schedule begins on November 6 in China. This, to be fair, is the last time this daft chronological mix-up will occur as in 2010 the new schedule will begin in that calendar year. Praise be to someone's god for such small mercies.

However confusing all this is, there is no doubting the thought that the loss of the Volvo Masters is a rather poignant affair for those of us who pay some small attention to these things. Valerrama is a wonderful course, the result of one man's lifelong obsession with golfing excellence. It also helped a bit that Jimmy Ortiz-Patino did not only have a dream when he bought the land at Sotogrande he also happened to have a personal fortune of at least a billion dollars in the days when this actually meant something.

Still, many a bloke has spent a lot of money only to find he has created something flimsy and rather pathetic so it is to Jimmy's credit that his Valderrama course is such a stand-out venue even if the over-worked 17th green still gives cause for alarm with its steep slopes leading to a small lake, the sort of alarm that is usually only found on a Krazee-golf track. Maybe they should stick a windmill on the green instead of a flag.

Whatever, the big fact is that this weekend's first prize, a record 708,000 euros, means that while Order of Merit leader Robert Karlsson is overwhelming favourite to take the No.1 spot, the real Player of the Year, Padraig Harrington, is in striking distance and so too - at least theoretically - are Lee Westwood and Miguel-Angel Jiminez.

What this in turn means is that Valerrama's last Volvo Masters will once again surely be dominated by a class act. This is the way it always has been since Nick Faldo won the inaugural Volvo golf-fest there in 1988. While other events have been won by the sort of player you might fancy your own chances against, Valderrama always has succumbed only to seriously impressive performers.

The reason for this is that it is devilishly tricky, certainly the most difficult of the Continental venues and a place that gets the juices flowing in the better players. During a chat with Padraig Harrington a few days ago the Irishman, for example, admitted that he always relishes the thought of playing it.

"To be honest I've never been comfortable there and that's what I like really, it's a challenge. Winning my Order of Merit title there a couple of years ago was really important to me even if I didn't actually win the tournament. Well, if I'm going to win the Order of Merit this time then I reckon I'll have to take the Masters title to have any chance, " he said. And he is correct.

To help his cause, Padraig flew off to Spain last week for some relaxing golf with a few pals. By Sunday, however, he was at Valderrama and practising seriously. He may have won The Open and the USPGA this year but he wants the Order of Merit title as well.

If, however, there is any justice then Karlsson will become the first - and as it happens the last - Swede to take the European No.1 tag. No-one has played more consistent high-level golf than this 39-year-old in 2008, no-one has been more committed to the European Tour and no-one has battled more demons to get where he is.

To describe Karlsson as a flake might well be libelling snow. As a Swede, one can expect him to be nuts but with Robert this nuttiness has been taken to a new and impressive level. In his time he has ingested volcanic ash, wandered speechlessly around woods for days on end and fasted for weeks. He also has devoured more psycho-babble than The Beatles managed during their best days with the Maharishi.

Out of all this weird stuff a rather nice bloke has emerged. He says that what he discovered at the end of all this introspective soulful stuff was that "there was nothing to know". It is, of course, a smart conclusion by an intelligent man. The question always has been the really big thing, not the answer.

I really hope Robert prevails this weekend. I'll be sorry for the Volvo to pass into golfing history but it would surely be fitting for a Swede to win the last of the damn things. Wouldn't it?

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