Mrs Golf

 This week, starting on Thursday, is the Volvo World Match Play Golf Championship at Finca Cortesin, Casares, Malaga, Spain for the third time.

The weather forecast is set fair and some of the worlds top golfers are here to play in this unique match play event.

Last year Mr Golf went to this event for most of its duration and watched numerous matches and was amazed that Ian Poulter won as his ball striking was awful.  However his short game, which is a pre- requisite for match play, was as deadly as ever and somehow he managed to win the event.

This season Ian Poulters ball striking is in a different league. With his course knowledge and his fantastic match play credentials - he has already won the World Golf Championship Match Play event in Arizona beating all the worlds top players - and also his fantastic recent Ryder Cup record,  Poulter is a Match Play Phenomenom and is rated a good bet to retain his title at 10-1.

As always the locals will be cheering on  Alvarro Quiros and Sergio Garcia.  However Quiros's form this year has been poor and Sergio must go well but whether his putting will stand up under Match play conditions is questionable.

Mr Golfs dark horse this year is USA's Brandt Snedecker who has one of the best short games in the world and is an outside bet at 25-1.

 It should be a cracking Masters this year as all the top players are in top form having had wins leading up to it.

Obviously this includes Tiger Woods who is back to form having won his last event.  Rory McIlroy wants to put the disappointment of last years final round collapse to bed whilst the World No.1, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood look to win their first Major.

Other pretenders as always at Augusta are Phil Mickelson,  dual winner on the PGA tour this year Hunter Mahorn and Justin Rose having come off his biggest win of his career in last months World Golf Championship Event.

All the above have great chances but Mr Golf fancies Luke Donald or Justin Rose to win their first Major.  Luke Donald particularly as he feels he is flying under the radar with all the focus and pressure on Woods and McIlroy.  His form over the last 18 months is second to none with multiple wins, he has the best short game in the world which is key at Augusta and if his iron play is in good order, Mr Golf thinks hes a good each way bet at 16-1 

Mr Golfs dark horse could be Bo Van Pelt who has had four top ten finishes this season and was eighth last year at Augusta. He thinks he could be an interesting outside bet at 100-1.

Mr Golf had a great week and was delighted to be at Valderrama to see his tournament selection, Sergio Garcia, actually winning the event.  There was a great atmosphere as Spain's best golfers fought out the finish for 1st and 2nd place.

Local lad Alejandro Canizales performed credibly with a Top Ten finish coming tied 7th.

If you would like me to share my husbands thoughts on future golf events throughout the world please leave a comment.

Have just written the review for Day 3 but the cat jumped on the pc and Ive lost the lot!!! 

The good news is that Sergio Garcia has a 2 shot lead and Alejandro Canizales is having a good week currently tied for 6th.

Also the lovely weather we had today brought the locals out in droves to watch the big two Spaniards play their magic.

Looking forward to seeing if Sergio Garcia can complete back to back victories or whether Jimenez can steal his thunder.

What do you think?

 Arrived at Valderrama at midday just in time to follow Sergio Garcia for his back nine.  Conditions once again were very testing witha strong poniente wind.

Sergio made a birdie at Hole 11 chipping in once again then scrambled majestically at Holes 12,13 and 14 before hitting flush approaches into the remaining four holes.

However sadly they didnt yield any birdies.

The afternoon starters then got a bit of a break once again with the wind dropping allowing 1st round leaders Ramsay and Havret to play useful rounds once again. 

Local hero Miguel Jimenez delighted his followers with a fantastic eagle at the 11th which led to a -1 70 and a penultimate pairing tomorrow with Sergio Garcia.

Coetzee missed the cut however Alejandro Canizales is in tie for 6th place.

Mr Golf has been to watch Sergio today and was suprised at how few people were following him.  It looks like numbers are down on last year or was that just because of the rain forecasted?

Sergio Garcia played well the front nine holes under difficult conditions, holing a couple of nice puts for birdies but he missed a 3 foot put for par at Hole 8.  Nevertheless he finished a very respectable -1 for the first nine holes.

Sergio then proceeded to birdie Hole 10, chipped in for an eagle at Hole 11 to move into a tie for second place.

However he made a bogey at Hole12 and a disastrous double bogey at Hole 14 and all of a sudden (which is so typical of Valderrama) he was back to level par and on the ropes.

Carrying on he proceeded to make a nice birdie at the difficult Hole 16, was unfortunate to bogey Hole17 but ended the round with a superb approach to 5 feet at Hole 18 which he birdied leaving him with a -1 for 70 and a tie for fifth place.

This was a decent score considering he played in the worst of the conditions all day.

George Coetzee didnt fare so well shooting he thinks +5 however Alejandro Canizales had a decent round sharing tie for 8th spot.

Scotlands Richie Ramsay is the current leader after an exceptional -6 for 65 in Round 1.

Sergio Garcia is out early tomorrow and the weather forecast is good all day with no strong winds so hopefully with better conditions Sergio can improve on todays round of 70.

Did anyone else go today and if so who did you follow and what did you think?

This week brings us the Costa del Sol's premier stroke play event at Valderrama which Mr Golf says is without question the most penal golf course he has ever played  and only fantastic ball strikers and players with course knowledge stand a chance to win this week.

Mr Golf believes that last weeks winner, Sergio Garcia is a good bet for back to back wins here in Spain.  Sergio has played at Valderrama 10 times in Major tournaments since 1999 and has had nine out of ten Top Ten finishes including 3 runner up spots. Last week he won by 11 shots which is almost unheard of in this sport and has only been surpassed by the great Tiger Woods. The last time Sergio Garcia won the Castellon Masters and then played the following week in Valderrama, he finished fourth after leading for the first 3 days.  Sergio Garcia has a remarkable record the week after winning a European Tour event with many Top Five finishes throughout his career, particularly in Spain.

Last night Mr Golf came home from getting a curry in Puerto de La Duquesa and told me he had been chatting to two Caddies who think George Coetzee is an up and coming star to follow.  However Mr Golf thinks that he possibly might not do as well this week as he has never played at Valderrama.

Two local lads who will have played at Valderrama many times and might be worth following are Alejandro Cañizales who grew up playing golf at La Duquesa in Manilva and Alvarro Quiros who grew up playing golf at La Cañada in Guadiaro.

Are there any EOS readers going to Valderrama to watch the golf this week and if so who will you be following and what are your thoughts?