On his way to a somewhat belated win in this event last year, Colin Montgomerie - although an IMG man to his bones - mused about the fairness of a system that gave four players in the select 12-man field a bye into the second round. With each match determined over 36 holes, the Scot felt that anyone who missed out on day one had an advantage straight away in the quest for the title and the pay cheque.

So it is again this year in the Cisco World Match Play championship which gets under way at Wentworth on Thursday. Four players won't make their entry into the event until the following day and, on this course of all courses, one that is so familiar to the top players, it means that the elite quartet have an immediate edge.

Ernie Els dominated this championship in the mid-'90s, winning on three successive occasions from 1994 and losing in the final in 1997, and such familiarity sees him installed as the short-priced 5 to 2 favourite to take the crown with defending champion Monty at 4 to 1. A sneaky outside bet could be the Australian version of Tiger Woods, aka Adam Scott, who is on offer at 40 to 1 in such a limited field. Fitness certainly won't be a problem with him.

However, the more sensible option is Lee Westwood. Although just a 9 to 2 shot, he is expected to escape the requirements of playing on Thursday and should enter the fray with the bit very much between his teeth - especially with the prospect of a sixth European Tour title of the season very much within his grasp!

5-2 - Ernie Els (South Africa).

4-1 - Colin Montgomerie (Scotland).

9-2 - Lee Westwood (England).

5-1 - Vijay Singh (Fiji).

12-1 - Darren Clarke (Ireland), Sergio Garcia (Spain).

14-1 - Thomas Bjorn (Denmark).

20-1 - Padraig Harrington (Ireland).

25-1 - Retief Goosen (South Africa).

33-1 - Nick Faldo (England), Bob May (USA).

40-1 - Adam Scott (Australia).

Prices supplied by Ladbrokes Ireland.