The European Tour plays its last event in Europe for season 2010 when the Andalucia Valderrama Masters is played at the famed Valderrama on the Sotogrande in the south west of Spain.
The remaining European Tour events of 2010 are to be played in Asia and the Middle East the season culminating in the Dubai World Championship beginning on November 25th.
The event will be played over the Golf Club de Valderrama’s Robert Trent Jones Snr designed layout, a golf course originally built in 1985 but one that has seen plenty of drama in it short history. For many years the venue played host to the season ending Volvo Masters and famously in 1997 for the Ryder Cup in which the Europeans withstood a brilliant late challenge by the Americans to win narrowly.
This week’s field contains seven of the recent successful European Ryder Cup team headed by the world number three Martin Kaymer.
Kaymer’s rapid rise in the rankings in recent months has him on the verge of becoming the world number one. A win this week would do that as he currently stands only 0.28 of one point behind Tiger Woods.Golf Accessories
Kaymer arrives in Spain in rare form having won at each of his last three starts at the PGA Championship, the KLM Open and at the Dunhill Links.
US Open Champion Graeme McDowell is the next highest ranked player in the field. The Northern Irishman has missed only one cut in seven starts since Pebble Beach and although not at the peak he was then he is not far from it and should do well.
The Molinari brothers seems to be in the thick of every tournament they play now, Ross Fisher has been steady since his Irish Open win and Miguel Angel Jimenez has won three events on this season’s schedule.Golf Garden
Playing at home and on a golf course he has won on previously should work well for Jimenez.
One player for whom there will be much interest and affection is Jose Maria Olazabal. In just his second tournament of 2010, Olazabal played all four rounds at last week’s Castello Masters but was disqualified for inadvertently signed an incorrect scorecard in the final round. He has battled an arthritic issue in his feet for many years now but it was good to see him back playing last week.Callaway Golf
Richard Green again heads the small Australian contingent and he will be joined by Scott Strange, Mark Brown and possibly Brett Rumford.