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The Irishman can leapfrog current Order of Merit leader Paul Casey if he can bank Mallorca’s first prize of 291,660 euros with the decider coming up at Valderrama the following week.
Harrington is the 15/2 second favourite and this is obviously a good opportunity for him with adversaries Paul Casey and the struggling David Howell both taking the week off.
But I like the look of Robert Karlsson, who is the fourth part of the equation involved in sorting out who will be Europe’s number one golfer this season.
The Swede has really stepped it up a gear in 2006, achieving his goal of making the Ryder Cup team on the back of excellent wins in Wales and the Deutsche Bank Players Championship.
He trails Casey by around 500,000 euros and will need to make a decent size dent in that to give him a fighting chance at the Volvo Masters.
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He is three times the price of Harrington but will be no less focused and merits an interest.
He has yet to break par in the event, but has done well in this part of the world before (former Spanish Open winner) and I expect him to put up a bold display.
If Karlsson were to win it would mean an end to the Spanish domination in the event.
Jose Maria Olazabal won 12 months ago as he added his name to a roll of honour that includes Miguel Angel Jimenez and Sergio Garcia.
The latter and Olazabal are both to the fore once again in the betting but at a bigger price Jose Manuel Lara could be the man to give the home faithful something to cheer.
Another consistent year sees him safely inside the top 60 and on the way to Valderrama with a third in the Spanish Open and a second at the K Club as the highlights of his season so far.
Lara is clearly a man who enjoys playing at events in his homeland and three starts in Mallorca have yielded T10-T11-T2 to date.
He has been playing steadily of late but a return to Pula could well initiate a better effort and he stands out at 40/1 in the betting.
Veteran Paul Broadhurst boasts an even better record than Lara (T5-T7-T2) and there seems no obvious reason why he won’t go well again as he arrives here on the back of a top 10 at the Alfred Dunhill.
He seems to be getting better with age and has made a habit over the last couple of seasons of finishing strongly.
Expect a prominent showing here and he could also be worth bearing in mind for the finale in the Volvo Masters.
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