The third edition of the Mallorca Classic gets underway at Pula Golf Club this week with a strong Spanish contingent led by Sergio Garcia, Miguel Angel Jiménez and José Maria Olazábal eager to keep the trophy in home hands.
World Number Six Garcia and Jiménez are the previous winners of this event and both return this year in a field that is further strengthened by the inclusion of double Masters Champion Olazábal.
Given their positions inside the top 15 on The European Tour Order of Merit, the three Spaniards are the top-ranked players in the 120 strong field and will be hopeful of keeping the trophy on Spanish territory.
Castellón born Garcia captured his sixth victory on The European Tour International Schedule at last month’s Omega European Masters while Malaga’s Jiménez has triumphed twice this season (Omega Hong Kong Open and The Celtic Manor Wales Open) to take his total to 13.
Both have winning form over the par 70 Pula Golf Club course, but it is probably Olazábal who will benefit most from local knowledge given that the man from Fuenterrabia – a winner of 22 events on The European Tour – is heading up a three year redesign of the layout.
Elsewhere, 11 other winners of European Tour events in 2005 will be looking to finish the season with a flourish including another Spaniard in Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, The KLM Open champion, and England’s John Bickerton, who will be hoping to prove the old adage that after a long wait, victories, like buses, come along in quick succession.
The 35 year old Bickerton ended a barren run of 287 events by clinching the Abama Open de Canarias 2005 in Tenerife two weeks ago and he will be joined at the Mallorca Classic by fellow 2005 champions Paul Broadhurst of England (Estoril Open de Portugal Caixa Geral de Depositos), Italian Emanuele Canonica (Johnnie Walker Classic at Gleneagles), Robert-Jan Derksen of The Netherlands (Madeira Island Open Caixa Geral de Depositos), Nick Dougherty of England (Caltex Masters, presented by Carlsberg, Singapore 2005), Swedish duo Peter Hanson (Jazztel Open de España en Andalucia) and Mikael Lundberg (The Cadillac Russian Open), Frenchman Jean-François Remesy (Open de France), South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel (dunhill championship) and Steve Webster of England (Telecom Italia Open).
And two other players with added incentive to break the Balearic stranglehold are England’s Simon Khan, who finished four shots behind Garcia last year after starting the final day level with the home favourite, and Paul Lawrie of Scotland, the 1999 Open Champion who was second behind Frenchman Raphaël Jacquelin in last week's Open de Madrid.
