A somewhat surprising decision to absent himself from last weekend's Belgacom Open, may yet come back to haunt Colin Montgomerie. The big Scot is now faced with the prospect of having to win the Volvo Masters at Montecastillo at the end of this month, to be sure of taking the Order of Merit for a sixth successive year.
In a fascinating climax to the season, the coveted honour can be captured by three players - Montgomerie, Lee Westwood or Ireland's Darren Clarke. This becomes possible because of the £1 million prize fund in Montecastillo, where the top three finishers receive £166,000, £110,000 and £63,000 respectively.
After Westwood's play-off triumph in the Belgacom Open last Sunday, the leading three positions in the Order of Merit are: Montgomerie - £760,077; Westwood - £714,811; Clarke - £616,867. If Clarke was to win the Volvo Masters, with Westwood finishing third (at best) and Montgomerie ninth (at best), the final top three would be: Clarke - £782,867; Montgomerie - £782,077; Westwood - £777,811.
Small wonder that the 25-yearold Englishman was prompted to comment yesterday: "I hope Monty is looking forward to the Volvo Masters as much as he was at the start of the month. If I win it, I'll be number one and there is nothing that he can do about it."
In fact, a second-place finish would be sufficient to deliver Westwood the title, provided Montgomerie is placed below him. So, his decision to go to Belgium, where top prize was a relatively modest £66,000 has paid a significant dividend.
"My most important tournament victory was my first one - the Scandinavian Masters in 1996," added the Englishman. "But this must rank second, higher even that my win in New Orleans last April." He went on to explain: "That is because last weekend was the only time I went to a tournament with the express purpose of winning - and actually pulled it off."
Westwood's schedule for the remainder of the year involves this week's Alfred Dunhill Cup at St Andrews followed by a debut appearance in the World Matchplay at Wentworth next week. Then comes the Volvo Masters, two tournaments in Japan, where Clarke is also competing, and the end-of-season Million Dollar Challenge in Sun City.
His rivals, Clarke and Montgomerie will also be at St Andrews. "After a total break from the game last week, I'm really looking forward to getting back into action," said the Tyroneman, who will be joining Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley in a repeat of last year's Irish line-up.
Westwood, who will be joined by Peter Baker and Murphy's Irish Open champion David Carter in the England team, said: "It should be a great week and I think we have an outstanding chance of winning the Cup. I'm hoping I'm captain and maybe I shall pull rank on the other two."
Meanwhile, with the official tournament season now ended for the lower-ranked players - only the top-55 get into the Volvo Masters - Ireland have eight players exempt for next season. This, of course, can be enhanced, depending on performances in the Tour School at San Roque and Sotogrande on November 18th to 23rd.
Those already exempt are: Clarke, Harrington, McGinley, Philip Walton, Eamonn Darcy, John McHenry, Des Smyth and Ronan Rafferty. A recurring hand injury seriously curtailed Rafferty's activities this year but 1999 will be the last of a 10-year exemption he gained as Order of Merit leader in 1989.
As it happened, Rafferty played only six tournaments this year. He missed the cut in the Heineken Classic, the Benson and Hedges International, Volvo PGA Championship and Deutsche Bank Open; was tied 49th in the Italian Open in which he appeared as the 1989 winner and was tied 41st in the English Open last June.
The top-115 in the Order of Merit are exempt for next season but this has been extended to 116 due to the presence at 103rd of John McHenry, who was an affiliate member. McHenry, who effectively secured his card by finishing tied third in the Murphy's Irish Open last July, will have full exempt status for next season.
The same applies to Smyth, who is in 113rd position, despite missing the cut in Belgium. After finishing 123rd in the Order of Merit at the end of the 1997 season, Smyth remained exempt in 1998 through the top-40 of the career money list.
That particularly door, however, was open to him for one year only which meant that his only route to survival was through the current Order of Merit. And he has survived, largely through a share of 14th place in the windswept British Open at Royal Birkdale.
