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It's a decade since the European Tour event immediately prior to the Ryder Cup was won by a member of the team but that fact alone isn't enough to keep Thorbjorn Olesen from the head of the market for the Portugal Masters.

The Dane has been among the stars of the summer, playing his way into Thomas Bjorn's side with a run of consistency seldom seen from him in the past, but he'll have to defy history - including his own at this course, where he's yet to finish inside the top 10 - if he's to add to the title he won in Italy back in May.

Now known as Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course, this layout is a familiar one to most and presents a straightforward test, the like of which shouldn't knock Olesen off his stride prior to Paris and should, in theory, provide debut visitor Sergio Garcia with the platform to build some confidence after he was handed a wild card.

Garcia's form issues have probably been overblown and there were definite positives from his performance at the Wyndham Championship last time, but while a shootout at a course which isn't at all penal off the tee eases the pressure to some extent, it wouldn't appear to present him with an obvious chance to win. The Spaniard is much more effective when his brilliant driving is rewarded and can be overlooked at 20/1, especially as he's sure to be using this as a final tune-up.

With Chris Wood having to deal with a third runner-up finish of the year and this one by far the most painful, Lucas Bjerregaard defending for the first time and former champion Shane Lowry absent for over a month, this looks like a fantastic opportunity for Charl Schwartzel to return to winning form and he gets the headline vote.

Schwartzel hasn't played this course since 2010, but in four previous visits he's bagged three top-10 finishes including when opening 65-65 in 2009, a performance which can be upgraded as his clubs had been lost in transit, which meant Nike had to quickly knock up a replacement set which included a brand new putter.

The subsequent Masters champion led the field in greens hit a year later, having ranked third in that statistic on debut, and it makes sense that this long but occasionally erratic driver would be suited by a course which really doesn't offer a great deal of punishment from the tee.

Conditions not dissimilar to those found in his native South Africa should also help, and there's a definite link between this event and the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek, where Schwartzel rules the roost with four wins and a series of top-five finishes.

Look back through the roll-of-honour here and you'll see that Alvaro Quiros, Steve Webster, Lee Westwood, Lowry, David Lynn, Andy Sullivan and Bjerregaard have all either won or gone close at Leopard Creek and with the Portugal Masters little more than a decade old, that's a revealing correlation and one that would've been enhanced further had Pablo Martin not blown it on the 72nd hole in 2010.

Having been eighth last time in Switzerland, an event he was also playing for the first time in eight years, and ninth in Germany earlier this summer, Schwartzel is going for his third top-10 in succession in Europe and is entitled to be favourite here given Olesen's modest record at the course and the potential for his mind to wander.

Remember, Schwartzel generally plies his trade on the PGA Tour, unlike the majority of this field, and his results should be upgraded as a consequence. Shooting 63 at Firestone and again the following week at the PGA Championship tells you he's close and there was much to like about eighth place in Crans last time out.

Schwartzel's two wins in mainland Europe have come across the border in Spain and, now returned to a suitable venue, he's a strong fancy to contend.

George Coetzee is no less suited to the course and also rates a big fancy at 50/1, a price which is generous when maidens Nacho Elvira and Ryan Fox are shorter despite having missed the cut at the KLM Open last week.

The truth is all three have the right sort of game for this, but Coetzee is by far the pick of them on the greens, remains the most decorated and while yet to win outside of Africa, he's been unfortunate on several occasions and will one day change that fact.

Portugal seems as good a place as any, with so many South African players having spoken of their comfort levels here in the past, and with form figures of 3-6-21-31-7 at the course it's clear that Coetzee is one of those who finds the layout to his liking.

Last year he in fact led the field in greens hit but was unable to capitalise and his weakness, chipping and bunker play, just isn't questioned at Victoria as it can be elsewhere.

Since returning from a mid-summer break, he's finished 35th and 44th and while those performances don't scream winner-in-waiting, neither came on a course which rewards his strengths like this one. Coetzee is essentially a big-hitting putting machine and that's the ideal formula here in Portugal.

A third-round 76 in last week's KLM Open further disguises some good work which has seen him break par in his other seven rounds since a couple of months off and at 66th in the Race To Dubai rankings, he's one good week away from securing his place in the lucrative DP World Tour Championship which rounds off the season.

Coetzee is already a winner this year, having dominated the Tshwane Open on home soil when sent off favourite, and he's been overlooked far too readily here, presumably on the grounds that the last fortnight suggests he's not playing well enough. I wholeheartedly disagree.