Race To Dubai / Paul Krishnamurty / 04 October 2011 /

The next four weeks on the European Tour are all about Spain and Portugal which allows Paul Krishnamurty to pick out six players who have played well there in the past or who arrive at the Madrid Masters in particularly good form...

Although there are still nine weeks left of the 2011 Race to Dubai, we are now entering the final month of golf on the European mainland.

Starting Thursday, we have four tournaments in Spain and Portugal: the Madrid, Portugal, Castello and Valderrama Masters.

As always there are a variety of factors in play at this time of year. Luke Donald makes a rare appearance in Madrid this week, as he seeks to tighten his strangehold on the money list. Other big names will have their eye on the rich rewards that come with a place in the top-15. Further back, the key targets are to reach the top-60 that head forward to the lucrative Dubai World Championship finale, or the top-115 that means avoiding a trip to Q-School. Here's my six to follow during October.

Peter Hanson
RTD Position: 17th
Madrid Masters odds: [17.5]
Hanson went into many a notebook after last week's top-ten in the Dunhill Links, where he hit over 90% of greens in regulation. That was his best effort since finishing seventh at the US Open, and bodes very well for this forthcoming spell, in a region where he's thrived before. Two of Hanson's four Euro Tour titles came in Spain, including at last year's Iberdrola Open, and four of his last seven visits to the country yielded top-tens. Like everyone else, he'll be making his course debut in Madrid this week, but has plenty of previous on all other three venues. He's twice made the top-four in the Portugal Masters, finished seventh and eighth in the last two Castello renewals, and registered three top-15s at Valderrama.

Nicolas Colsaerts
RTD Position: 13th
Madrid Masters odds: [20.0]
Apart from Valderrama, all of these layouts should produce birdie fests, which very much suits huge-hitting Colsaerts. The Belgian is one of the most improved players in the world this season, and has looked a likely winner ever since landing his maiden victory in April at the China Open. Ninth place in the Dunhill Links was easily his best effort in that pro-am, and confirmed that he has recovered from the injury forced him out for a couple of months. A long par-72 with generous fairways in Madrid this week should be ideal, and next week's Portuguese venues has historically favoured very big-hitters.

Joost Luiten
RTD Position: 40th
Madrid Masters odds: N/A
Back in January, I tipped four players to significantly improve in 2011, and three of them have done me proud. Charl Schwartzel won the Masters, Nick Watney could win the US money list and Bill Haas won the Fedex Cup. The fourth man, however, has been incredibly frustrating. Joost Luiten has been consistent enough, registering 12 top-25s including five top tens, but just can't get his head over the line. On his penultimate start in Austria, the Dutchman three-putted the final green to miss the play-off, adding to suspicions that he is not one to trust. I refuse to abandon him just yet though, because Luiten's efforts during last year's Iberian Swing were outstanding, making the top-five in all three events. Joost must be looking forward to returning to those courses from next week.

Jose Manuel Lara
RTD Position: 76th
Madrid Masters odds: [85.0]
One must expect some of the home contingent to up their efforts over the next month, and proven winner Lara looks just the ticket. Currently in 76th place on the money list, he will have his eye on the top-60, and a place in the lucrative Dubai World Championship. This week's Madrid venue should reward Lara's long-game accuracy, and Valderrama really is ideal for his type of game. Sixth and 12th placed finishes at the recent KLM and Czech Opens suggest he's in good enough form.

Steve Webster
RTD Position: 113th
Madrid Masters odds: [75.0]
Responding to a dire situation that sees his playing privileges on the line, Webster appears to be turning things around, and has repeatedly caught the eye over the last couple of months. First he produced his best effort in ages to finish fifth at the Czech Open, and his last three top-30 finishes have all contained spells of exceptional ball-striking. He's on my shortlist for both Madrid at tasty odds, and next week in Portugal, a country he seems to adore. Webster won at Oceanica in 2007, finished third when defending the following year, and has made the top-ten in the last three Estoril Opens.

Alejandro Canizares
RTD Position: 114th
Madrid Masters odds: [95.0]
Here's another home candidate, languishing at the wrong end of the money list but plainly capable of so much better. It is easy to forget that during the first half of 2010, Canizares was among the very best players in Europe and that he contended for a long way at the Open that year. This year has been miserable by comparison, but there are a couple of recent snippets of improvement, such as ninth at Crans. Canizares is a former runner-up of the Madrid Masters and Spanish Open.

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