The race for places on the European team for the 1999 Ryder Cup begins in earnest this week at the European Masters in Switzerland, the first tournament at which golfers can earn qualification points.
The Swiss event also heralds the return to Europe of Nick Faldo. The Englishman has been quite dismissive of the European Tour in comparison with the US PGA equivalent, something which has not endeared him to several individuals.
However, his continuing struggle with his swing suggests that odds of 28 to 1 represents bad value. The same may also be said of the miserly 11 to 1 on offer on the out of sorts Colin Montgomerie.
Order of Merit pacesetter Lee Westwood is recovering from a hip problem while Ireland's Darren Clarke must surely happen upon one tournament at which he will not be in contention. Thomas Bjorn's performance at the BMW last week suggests that he may represent the best value, although Costantino Rocca and Sam Torrance are also worthy contenders.
11/1 - C Montgomerie; 12/1 - D Clarke, L Westwood; 16/1 - T Bjorn; 20/1 - J M Olazabal, C Rocca; 28/1 - N Faldo; 33/1 - E Romero, S Torrance, P Sjoland; 40/1 - A Coltart, R Goosen, M Jimenez; 50/1 - I Garrido, P Lonard, G Chalmers, R Claydon, P Senior, P Harrington, P McGinley; 66/1 - D Gilford, D Howell, M Lanner.
Odds supplied courtesy of Paddy Power bookmakers.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)