From Celtic Manor via Scotland to Portugal, there is no let up for some of Europe’s Ryder Cup stars.
Following the dramatic victory over the United States in Wales two weeks ago, most of the victorious team travelled to St Andrews for the Dunhill Links Championship.
From there it’s on to Iberia for the Portugal Masters beginning on Thursday where once again there will be several members of Colin Montgomerie’s victorious team on display.
Edoardo and Francesco Molinari, Ross Fisher, Miguel Angel Jimenez plus assistant captains Darren Clarke, Thomas Bjorn and Paul McGinley will all be in action at the Oceanico Victoria Golf Course on the Algarve.
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Lee Westwood was scheduled to defend the title he won last season before a recurrence of an ankle and calf problem in Scotland last weekend forced the pre-tournament online betting favourite to pull out.
Westwood will be hoping that he can still be crowned the new world number one at the end of the month.
Tiger Woods’ inactivity and Phil Mickelson’s loss of form means either the Englishman or Celtic Manor team-mate Martin Kaymer will take over at the top of the rankings in the coming weeks.
Despite the absence of the high-profile pair this week, there is no shortage of top-quality opposition in the field as 2009 champion Alvaro Quiros from nearby Spain and 2008 winner Steve Webster of England will be in action.
Charl Schwartzel, Simon Khan, Fredrik Andersson Hed and Rhys Davies are all in the top 20 in the Race to Dubai standings and will tee it up this week, as will teenage Italian sensation Matteo Manassero.
Ross Fisher is the new sportsbook favourite and he is looking to improve on last year’s fourth-placed finish in the Race to Dubai.
“My attention has switched back to the Race to Dubai now, definitely,” he explained.
“I finished fourth last year and it would be disappointing not to finish better than that this season.
“I’ve obviously got a bit of work to do in order to achieve that but I’ve got some big tournaments coming up so it’s not over yet.”
Although the winner of the tournament remains a mystery, what is guaranteed is low scoring as the Arnold Palmer-designed course has a habit of giving up birdies and eagles.
When Webster won two years ago he did so with a 25 under par aggregate score after making the most of generous course set up and friendly conditions.
Of the contenders Schwartzel and Francesco Molinari are ranked fourth and fifth when it comes to scoring averages on the European Tour this season so will surely feature heavily on the leaderboard as the weekend action hots up under the Portuguese sun.
