Goosen primed for showdown with Harrington

In one of those almost random draws, group 31 out of 33 for the first round of the Volvo Masters here today, to no one's surprise, features Retief Goosen, the No 1 on the European Order of Merit, and his only challenger for the money list crown, Padraig Harrington.

Goosen, the current holder of the Vardon Trophy, leads Harrington, this tournament's defending champion, by just over £14,000. With the third-placed Ernie Els absent, no one else in the field can overtake Goosen despite the first prize of £333,330 in the last event of the season.

The ultimate destination of the Order of Merit title may only be decided by a single stroke even though these things are usually described as a marathon and not a sprint. It is certainly not the latter since both have been accused of dawdling on the fairways – by each other.

The extraordinary exchange – Goosen, in particular, rarely makes a public utterance that might raise an eyebrow – occurred at the Madrid Open two weeks ago. Goosen said Harrington was "definitely the slowest player on tour," while Harrington responded by saying that Goosen "was no boy racer himself". Peace has since broken out. The pair had breakfast together yesterday morning. "I asked him how he got on in the States last week but other than that we didn't talk about golf," Harrington said.

Goosen declined to submit himself to a media grilling. But in an official statement, the South African said: "I am good friends with Padraig and enjoy playing with him. It is good that it comes down to this week. We will be keeping an eye on each other but the main goal is to win the tournament." Harrington disagreed. "Maybe because I have already won the Volvo Masters I definitely put winning the Order of Merit ahead of winning the tournament," said the Irishman, whose victory at Montecastillo pulled him up to second on the money list last year.

This year the event has returned to Valderrama, its home until 1996 before the course went on to host the Ryder Cup and the AmEx World Championship. "I like the course," Harrington said. "It is one of the few where there is a strong mental test. Someone who thinks well is going to win this week." Unless either Harrington or Goosen win here, the winner of the Order of Merit will be the first to have won only once during the season since Sandy Lyle in 1980.

"If you sat down at the start of the season and wanted to win the Order of Merit you would probably have thought you needed to win about four times," Harrington said. "But it obviously suggests our performances have been consistent week in, week out." With the leaders out last from the second round onwards the two may not necessarily be paired all week. Colin Montgomerie and Sergio Garcia will probably be glad to be playing in front of the two main contenders today, however.

Garcia, who, contrary to reports, will not be playing more in Europe next year, claims his aim of winning the money lists on each side of the Atlantic is still a possibility. "Tiger could have done it this year," he said. Woods has been the leading money-winner on the European Tour for the last four years, to be precise, but cannot win the Order of Merit due to the tiny technicality that he is not a member of the Tour.