DANNY WILLETT, one of the bestbacked players in the field for the Portugal Masters in Vilamoura, withdrew prior to his round yesterday morning with a rib problem, so punters who supported the in-form Englishman ante-post will get their stake money back.
Willett, an RPSPORT selection at 22-1 on the back of his runnerup effort in last week's Links Championship, was replaced by Irishman Simon Thornton for the threeball alongside Miguel Angel Jimenez and Edoardo Molinari.
The first day of action at the Victoria Course resulted in a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard, with pre-tournament 25-1 chance Robert Karlsson the most illustrious of the pacesetting trio.
The Swedish beanpole carded a bogey-free 64 to assume favouritism, with his compatriot Johan Edfors and Dutchman Maarten Lafeber matching his eight-under-par total.
Alexander Noren ended round one a shot behind at seven under par, while Alvaro Quiros (67) and Ross Fisher (68) also made solid starts to the week.
There is no reason to expect Karlsson to falter from the front at this stage and odds-against quotes about the ten-time European Tour victor winning his threeball again today are decent value.
He has finished in the top three at the Victoria Course twice before in previous Portugal Masters and is powerful enough to take advantage of the four par fives.
Playing partner Oliver Wilson is clearly enduring a crisis of confidence as he is messing about with his putting stroke.
The Mansfield man's great strength has always been his magical short game, but he has switched to a left-hand-belowright grip for some reason. It is a move which smacks of desperation from a frustrated player who has never won on the European Tour and an experiment which is unlikely to last long.
Simon Khan, the third member of the group, holed a bunker shot for eagle on the fifth hole yesterday to keep his neck above water, but the Epping man, who closed with an 83 in the Links Championship last week, generally performed abysmally in a levelpar 72, so there is no question who is likelier to get among the birdies this afternoon.
Recommendation R Karlsson 2pts 11-10 Stan James
