Lee Westwood is heading for another and almost predictable strong finish to the year.

Although he is often not that quick out of the stalls once the winter’s cobwebs have been shaken off, Lee is a very fast finisher, very similar to our horse Hoof It.

Fifth place in the Shanghai Masters – a tournament where he also celebrated a rare hole in one – will have given him just the right impetus to take into this week’s HSBC event.   It is a tournament he particularly enjoys having once forced a play-off when trailing the eventual winner, Phil Mickelson, by 10 shots with just nine holes to play.

I’m sure he will go well this week and wouldn’t be the least surprised if several of his ISM colleagues are challenging him for top honours.

Jeev Milkha Singh is also enjoying a much better time of it and notched another top 10 in the Malaysia Asia Pacific event in Selangar.

Jeev is a fearless golfer and his determination will surely be rewarded by a return to the game’s upper echelon before too much longer.

While Sergio Garcia was enjoying his second success in successive weeks in the Andalucia Masters, the Valderrama course was once again proving that it is one of if not the toughest in Europe.

Only six players finished under par, but Romain Wattel – definitely one to watch next season – and David Howell – definitely shooting back up the rankings very soon – can feel delighted with their top 20 finishes.

Our South African troops continue to impress and Steven Ferreira came away in the top 10 at the BMG Classic on the Sunshine Tour.

It won’t be long before we’re back in the winner’s enclosure and as soon as next weekend. I’m definitely hoping to be saying ‘I told you so’ in next week’s column.