Money talks

There's obviously a few bob in appearance money on offer in Cologne this week, which helps explain why heavyweights such as Sergio Garcia, US Masters champion Vijay Singh and Carlos Franco are flying in for the Linde German Masters.

And, while these players who normally ply their trade on the US Tour may be looking for extra pickings in the tournament itself, anyone with a fancy for a punt could do worse than have a double interest in two Irish players who are showing quite decent form.

Padraig Harrington is on offer at a rather tempting 16 to 1 on a course where he lost out to Garcia in a play-off last year and had a top-10 finish the previous year, while McGinley - a good each-way bet at 66 to 1 - had a top-20 finish last year and a top-10 outing in 1998.

Both obviously like the Larchenhof course and could offer sound reasons for letting the heart rule the head for once.

THE BETTING

6/1 - Lee Westwood (England).

10/1 - Colin Montgomerie (Scotland), Sergio Garcia (Spain).

14/1 - Thomas Bjorn (Denmark), Vijay Singh (Fiji).

16/1 - Padraig Harrington (Ireland).

20/1 - Retief Goosen (South Africa), Michael Campbell (New Zealand), Carlos Franco (Paraguay).

33/1 - Bernhard Langer (Germany), Eduardo Romero (Argentina).

40/1 - Nick Faldo (England), Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain).

Selected other: 66/1 - Paul McGinley (Ireland).

Prices supplied by Ladbrokes Ireland.

The American team to take part in next week's Solheim Cup was revealed yesterday. The 10 automatic qualifiers for the event are Julie Inkster, Meg Mallon, Dottie Pepper, Rosie jones, Sherri Steinhauer, PAT Hurst, Kelly Robbins, Michelle Redman, Nancy Scranton and Becky Iverson. Beth Daniel and Brandie Burton complete the team after receiving USA captain at Bradley's two wild car picks.