BOTH this week's Mallorca Classic and the Madrid Open are used by most golfers as preparation for the Volvo Masters next week - and I'm no different.

Ideally it would be great to do well and record great finishes in all three competitions but the majority of us feel that ending the season on a high, meaning a top ten finish at the Masters Valderrama, would be just perfect.

At this moment I'm sitting 30th in the Order of Merit and I'm delighted with that on my first year back on the European Tour. To go higher by doing well over the next ten days would be fantastic.

Just to have qualified for the Volvo Masters - the top 60 play by right - was beyond expectations at the start of the season and it means I'm guaranteed a pay cheque.

The winner receives a cheque of around £450,000 and even the golfer propping up the leaderboard will get £7,000. If I can finish in the top 30 I will be happy, and I know Ernie Els (injured) and Retief Goosen, who has no chance of finishing top of the Order of Merit, are unlikely to play.

BUT first thing's first. I'm out here in Mallorca ahead of the Classic, which starts tomorrow, and I'm looking to iron out a few of the problems which have cost me on a few occasions this season.

Saturdays are becoming a bit of a nightmare for me. Having been nicely placed going into last weekend's final two rounds of the Madrid Open I slipped well off the pace.

Struggling on a Saturday has become the norm for me and, after talking things over with my coach, Ian Rae, we have reached the conclusion that it could be down to my routine.

It's more a golf routine rather than anything I do before I tee off. Where I concentrate and take things slowly on a Thursday and Friday as I look to make the cut, I seem to be rushing things a bit more after that has been achieved.

But I'm confident of getting away from that negativity and if I can that will help me stay in touch with the leading pack throughout the weekend play. A nice place to start would be Mallorca.

IT was an interesting week during the build-up to the Madrid Open. Before flying out on the Monday before the competition started I had a pretty memorable weekend - and I didn't even have to swing a club.

During my weekend off I went to see snooker's Grand Prix at Preston's Guild Hall. It was a fantastic experience to see how the professionals in another sport prepare.

I'm quite good friends with snooker legend Willie Thorne - he is part of the same Champions UK management group as me - and he took me along to watch the rocket Ronnie O'Sullivan from the commentary box. He blew me away with how good he was and it was completely different to watch the match unfold live.

The following night I went along to watch The Match at St James' Park. I had a few VIP tickets for the night to watch through former England keeper Peter Shilton - another client of Champions - and it was a great night.

After watching Peter Beardsley run the show for the legends, I then mixed it with the celebrities in the VIP lounge and I didn't get in until 2am - not ideal when I had to get up to fly at 9am to Spain for the Madrid Open