A fitting victory on the cards

Padraig Harrington's main concern on arriving at the Belfry this week for the International Open will not be negotiating the …

Padraig Harrington's main concern on arriving at the Belfry this week for the International Open will not be negotiating the course but dealing with the media baggage of last year. Then, he led the field by five shots going into the final round only to be disqualified for not signing his card after the first round.

The Dubliner is strong mentally and, forewarned about the likely central topic of conversation, should be able to switch on and off where applicable. Of the three favourites for the tournament, he represents by some distance the best value at 10 to 1. Colin Montgomerie is struggling, especially with his putting while Lee Westwood is lacking competitive sharpness - the tournament marks his second outing since the birth of his first child.

Darren Clarke is on offer at 12 to 1 but will need good greens to flourish at the Belfry. Defending champion Jose Maria Olazabal won the French Open at the weekend and at 14 to one is decent value.

The best each way value may be provided by two recent winners, Welshman Philip Price (Portuguese Open) and Swede Robert Karlsson (Spanish Open) at 33 to 1 and 40 to 1 respectively. Take Harrington and Karlsson.

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10/1 - P Harrington, C Montgomerie, L Westwood.

12/1 - D Clarke.

14/1 - J M Olazabal.

16/1 - T Bjorn.

20/1 - A Cabrera, M Campbell.

25/1 - M A Jimenez.

33/1 - B Langer, P Price, A Scott.

40/1 - A Baddley, R Goosen, R Karlsson.

50/1 - P Fulke, P McGinley, A Wall.

66/1 - A Coltart, P lawrie, P Lonard, N O'Hern, E Romero, B Rumford, I Woosnam.

Odds courtesy of Ladbrokes