How to take pain out of Spain

One of the toughest tests of the season awaits this week inat the Andalucia Valderrama Masters.

Real Club Valderrama in Sotogrande is the venue of this week’s European Tour event and I don’t know if I’m pleased or fearful to report it is as daunting as it has ever been.

I played the Pro-Am yesterday and it remains a great course. I say it’s one of the toughest for a few reasons. The fairways are tree-lined and the greens are small.

That makes it a serious mental challenge for the pros taking part.

When you play here it’s a numbers game. What I mean by that is that in your head you will have specific landing areas in mind on the fairway to aim for. Hitting the fairway itself just won’t cut it this week. You have to be very precise and ball-striking will be pivotal.

I know there will come a point where I’ll be standing on the tee looking to hit a three wood to a specific area of the fairway. The next day the wind will change but I’ll still be aiming for the same zone, only this time I’ll be using a four iron.

Trust me, concentration and careful planning is my friend this week.

Driving and accuracy with the irons is only part of the job though. As the saying goes it’s driving for show, putting for dough and I’ll be hoping for a good week with the putter after paying a visit to Phil Kenyon, the renowned putting guru, last week.

I wasn’t happy with my putting in the Dunhill Links championship and, having gone through the process with Phil last week, he found I had a small adjustment to make in terms of my tempo.

Believe me, it’s a relief when the expert eye tells you it’s just the rhythm that needs tweaking and it’s not a fundamental change needed.

I’ve got a few things which I can work away at on my own and I’ve also altered the weight of my putter slightly so hopefully I’ll get a chance to see if the tweaks have a positive impact this week.

It’s great to see the Sergio Garcia Foundation

“I’m hoping for a good week with the putter after visiting guru Phil Kenyon”

hosting the event once again and it’s great that all funds raised this week will go towards a design project for an X-ray unit at a Madrid hospital.

Like Justin Rose in the British Masters last week, it is great to see guys give up their time to support the tour in an era where golf has become a global game.

Playing host last year certainly seemed to bring the best out of Sergio as he won the event for the second time.

Having watched how well he played in the Ryder Cup, I think he’ll fancy his chances of making it a hat-trick of wins in the tournament.

TREBLE CHANCE: Sergio Garcia is going for a hat-trick in Andalucia