Torrance set to put pressure on Mason

SCOTLAND'S Sam Torrance returns to the European Seniors Tour today looking to turn up the heat on Order of Merit leader Carl Mason of England in one of Continental Europe's golfing hotspots, the Algarve.

The €300,000 Algarve Seniors Open of Portugal the penultimate tournament of the year starts at the beautiful Quinta de Cima Golf Course today and with the former Ryder Cup captain eager to recover lost ground in the race to finish number one.

Torrance moved within just €8,529 of Mason by recording his third win of the season at the Bendinat London

Seniors Masters, but the 52-year-old Scotsman could only watch as his rival pulled a further 4,000 clear thanks to his 15th place finish at the following week's Castellón Costa Azahar Open de España Senior.

Torrance missed the trip to Spain because he was committed to playing with his son Daniel in the Dunhill Links Championship, but this week he rejoins his seniors colleagues in Portugal for a tournament likely to play a significant role in determining the winner of the John Jacobs Trophy for the leading money winner on the order of merit.

However, the fact that Mason is going for his third order of merit title in a row is not the most positive omen for Torrance though he is determined to change that.

Despite a long and successful career on the European Tour, during which he won 21 times, Torrance never managed to top the rankings but twice finished runner-up, most notably when compatriot Colin Montgomerie pipped him to the number one spot in 1995.

Montgomerie finished a shot ahead of Torrance in the last event that year, the Volvo Masters at Valderrama in Spain, which was enough to secure him the third of his seven consecutive European Tour order of merit titles.

A decade on and another wonderfully competitive season enters its final straight at Quinta de Cima Golf Course in Portugal and then at the Riffa Golf Club in Bahrain for the Arcapita Seniors Tour Championship.

The Seniors Tour last visited the Algarve in 2000 and 2001 for the European Seniors Matchplay Championship, won by Brazil's Priscillo Diniz and Jim Rhodes of England respectively.

This week's Algarve Seniors Open of Portugal will be the first professional tournament to take place on one of the most beautiful golf courses of the region, Quinta de Cima, located on the east side of the Algarve, close to Tavira.

A strong field has been assembled, including former Ryder Cup players Maurice Bembridge, Gordon J Brand, Malcolm Gregson and Tommy Horton of England, Ireland's Eddie Polland plus Spanish trio Antonio Garrido, Manuel Piñero and José Rivero.

Add to those names eight players from the top ten on the 2005 European Seniors Tour order of merit Ireland's Denis O'Sullivan, Italian Giuseppe Cali, Luis Carbonetti of Argentina, Nick Job of England, Scotland's Bill Longmuir, Mason of England, Australian Noel Ratcliffe and, of course, Torrance.

Therefore, the spectators should expect a hugely entertaining contest, especially given that such a good number of these players remain in with a chance of winning the John Jacobs Trophy.