US To Take Another Matchplay Beating
For those who like to watch golf on telly, it doesn't come much better than this week with 52 hours of live golf to look forward to. For those who like to have a serious confident punt on golf, however, this is one of the worst weeks of the year. Most of the attention will be on the two star-studded team events taking place either side of the Atlantic, the Presidents Cup and the Seve Trophy, but there is also a strokeplay event on the PGA Tour, the Valero Texas Open.
First to the Presidents Cup, a match that attempts to imitate the Ryder Cup between the US and an International team made up of players from everywhere else in the world bar Europe. As usual the bookmakers favour the US, who do benefit from home advantage from which they have never failed to win. But essentially we are talking about the same bunch of individuals that surrendered so tamely to the Europeans despite home advantage last year. As I've argued before, the qualities required for matchplay team events are worlds apart from strokeplay which determines world rankings and this US team look sorely lacking in the crucial departments. In any case, the International team are hardly noticeably inferior even on paper as the Europeans usually are. It is true that they will miss their injured talisman Ernie Els, but Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen and Adam Scott are all superior to every European. Even the weakest players in the International side like Nick O'Hern, Trevor Immelman and Peter Lonard compare at least equally with Fred Funk, Fred Couples and Scott Verplank.
Individuals are of less importance in these events than team spirit and motivation. On these two scores, the US fails miserably. Doubtless Tiger Woods will be picked for every round, despite his atrocious form in tournaments of this kind which he quite freely admits means nothing to him compared to the rigours of strokeplay. Clearly he isn't a team player and anyone who saw Phil Mickelson at the last Ryder Cup must have grave doubts.
Aside a decent bet on the Internationals to win the cup, my interest in the tournament will be enhanced with a few bets on the top points scorer for each side. The only US player to emerge from the Ryder Cup with any credit was CHRIS DIMARCO who fought bravely for his dejected side. This weak strokeplay finisher seemed to revel in matchplay and looks great each-way value at 12/1. Dimarco's recent form is up there with the best of them too, as long as you're prepared to overlook his inability to close out tournaments though he was slightly unlucky when touched off at Firestone by the Tiger last month.
Another American who makes appeal here is the ultra-consistent JIM FURYK at 9/1. Furyk is another gritty competitor who has enjoyed the team matchplay format in the past, boasting an awesome Ryder Cup singles record. With Tiger and Mickelson taking much out of the book and representing truly awful value, a third bet is justified on SCOTT VERPLANK at 22/1. Though one of the lesser lights in the team, Scotty has the awesome short game required in matchplay and on the basis of his excellent Ryder Cup form should get plenty of scoring opportunities.
Picking a particular individual to shine in the International side is much more difficult as I can't say there's anybody who will obviously struggle. For an interest, I suggest a couple of small bets on favourite VIJAY SINGH and NICK O'HERN. Vijay takes this tournament just as seriously as anyone as he loves the rivalry with American players who have never really accepted him. Remember his infamous but ill advised 'Tiger Who?' hat from four years ago? Since then, his PGA Tour peers declined to give him a blatantly deserved Player of the Year award so I'll bet there's no love lost. The only difference between Vijay's current form and his world beating stuff of the last couple of years is a cold putter. I have a theory that the poorer putters improve in matchplay, perhaps due to the goodwill received from team-mates and also the extra determination that comes from responsibility. Monty's matchplay form is a great example of this and I expect an improved putting display from Singh this week. Plus there is the extra advantage of knowing that the Fijian is a stone cold certainty to play all 5 matches here.
O'Hern rates worthy of a speculative each-way punt. Very much like Dimarco, the ultra-consistent left-hander is hopeless at closing out individual strokeplay events and seems to prefer this format. For a player who I've always had down as an arch-bottler, I was pleasantly surprised to see this Aussie hold his nerve to defeat Tiger at this year's World Matchplay.
I have to be honest and admit that the thought of the Seve Trophy turns me cold. The success of the Ryder Cup and to a lesser extent the Presidents Cup motivated the creation of this event 5 years ago but it hasn't managed to catch the public's imagination. The problem stems from the fact that a contest between the UK & Ireland and continental Europe lacks any meaningful rivalry. These lads play on the same tour most weeks and have developed a strong cameraderie in Ryder Cups over the last 20 years. The result is a tournament that gives the impression of being a bit of end of season fun - an afterthought in the players' schedules.
With all this in mind, I may well trade the outright result in running but cannot recommend an opinion. Nevertheless, golf is golf and I will have a few small interest bets on the top scorer markets. For continental Europe, lets side with in-form Swedish duo HENRIK STENSON and NICLAS FASTH. Stenson in particular is really going places and the competition here doesn't look very strong. Jean-Francois Remesy, Peter Hanson and Emanuelle Canonica particularly stand out as not being top class but even they can't be entirely ruled out in a contest like this.
For GB and Ireland, notably lacking Luke Donald and Darren Clarke, I like the look of IAN POULTER and GRAEME MCDOWELL. Feisty competitor Poulter looks particularly well suited to matchplay as his form in the World Matchplay shows. He always strikes me as the sort of streaky player who throws away a lot of rounds with one or two bad holes. With a disaster only costing one hole in this format, players like this often improve in matchplay. Similar comments apply to exciting prospect McDowell. This attacking player is bound to win many holes with birdies and has proven very reliable in team events in the past when a key member of the Walker Cup winning side as an amateur.
On to Texas then, for an unbelievably trappy contest. All the shrewd research and even a touch of mysticism couldn't have predicted the last two winners on this course, 200/1 shots Tommy Armour III and Bart Bryant. LaCantera is one of the easiest tracks on the Tour - target golf at its worst with a very low winning score assured. With all this in mind, again stakes must be kept to an absolute minimum at least until the weekend. The market leaders make no appeal as they are either out of form like Chad Campbell and KJ Choi or poor finishers like Rod Pampling, Jerry Kelly and Charles Howell. Instead I'm having a couple of each-way punts on in-form VAUGHAN TAYLOR and ace putter CARL PETTERSSON.
Since successfully defending his maiden Tour win at the Reno-Tahoe Classic, the promising Taylor has held his form with finishes of 3rd, 12th and 32nd. On that basis, he looks the one to beat in a very weak field. Swede Pettersson really is a speculative punt as he is still looking for his first win in the States. This time last year, he put in string of high finishes and his last two efforts suggest once again Carl has found his form for the autumn. 4th on his penultimate outing, 17th at the weekend was just about the worst possible position as a winning chance was surrendered with a couple of disaster holes on Sunday.
Good Luck!
PRESIDENTS CUP
7pts win INTERNATIONALS @ 6/4 (BET DIRECT, STAN JAMES, BLUESQ)
TOP US SCORER
3pts ew CHRIS DIMARCO @ 12/1 (PADDY POWER, BLUESQ)
1.5pts ew JIM FURYK @ 9/1 (BLUESQ)
1pt ew SCOTT VERPLANK @ 22/1 (CORALS)
TOP INTERNATIONAL SCORER
2pts win VIJAY SINGH @ 7/2 (GENERALLY AVAILABLE)
1pt ew NICK O'HERN @ 20/1 (GENERALLY AVAILABLE)
SEVE TROPHY
TOP EURO SCORER
1pt win HENRIK STENSON @ 6/1 (HILLS)
1pt win NICLAS FASTH @ 15/2 (SPORTING ODDS, PADDY POWER, STAN JAMES)
TOP GB & IRE SCORER
1pt win IAN POULTER @ 8/1 (BLUESQ)
1pt win GRAEME MCDOWELL @ 10/1 (GENERALLY AVAILABLE)
VALERO TEXAS OPEN
1pt ew VAUGHAN TAYLOR @ 28/1 (GENERALLY AVAILABLE)
1pt ew CARL PETTERSSON @ 66/1 (GENERALLY AVAILABLE)
First to the Presidents Cup, a match that attempts to imitate the Ryder Cup between the US and an International team made up of players from everywhere else in the world bar Europe. As usual the bookmakers favour the US, who do benefit from home advantage from which they have never failed to win. But essentially we are talking about the same bunch of individuals that surrendered so tamely to the Europeans despite home advantage last year. As I've argued before, the qualities required for matchplay team events are worlds apart from strokeplay which determines world rankings and this US team look sorely lacking in the crucial departments. In any case, the International team are hardly noticeably inferior even on paper as the Europeans usually are. It is true that they will miss their injured talisman Ernie Els, but Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen and Adam Scott are all superior to every European. Even the weakest players in the International side like Nick O'Hern, Trevor Immelman and Peter Lonard compare at least equally with Fred Funk, Fred Couples and Scott Verplank.
Individuals are of less importance in these events than team spirit and motivation. On these two scores, the US fails miserably. Doubtless Tiger Woods will be picked for every round, despite his atrocious form in tournaments of this kind which he quite freely admits means nothing to him compared to the rigours of strokeplay. Clearly he isn't a team player and anyone who saw Phil Mickelson at the last Ryder Cup must have grave doubts.
Aside a decent bet on the Internationals to win the cup, my interest in the tournament will be enhanced with a few bets on the top points scorer for each side. The only US player to emerge from the Ryder Cup with any credit was CHRIS DIMARCO who fought bravely for his dejected side. This weak strokeplay finisher seemed to revel in matchplay and looks great each-way value at 12/1. Dimarco's recent form is up there with the best of them too, as long as you're prepared to overlook his inability to close out tournaments though he was slightly unlucky when touched off at Firestone by the Tiger last month.
Another American who makes appeal here is the ultra-consistent JIM FURYK at 9/1. Furyk is another gritty competitor who has enjoyed the team matchplay format in the past, boasting an awesome Ryder Cup singles record. With Tiger and Mickelson taking much out of the book and representing truly awful value, a third bet is justified on SCOTT VERPLANK at 22/1. Though one of the lesser lights in the team, Scotty has the awesome short game required in matchplay and on the basis of his excellent Ryder Cup form should get plenty of scoring opportunities.
Picking a particular individual to shine in the International side is much more difficult as I can't say there's anybody who will obviously struggle. For an interest, I suggest a couple of small bets on favourite VIJAY SINGH and NICK O'HERN. Vijay takes this tournament just as seriously as anyone as he loves the rivalry with American players who have never really accepted him. Remember his infamous but ill advised 'Tiger Who?' hat from four years ago? Since then, his PGA Tour peers declined to give him a blatantly deserved Player of the Year award so I'll bet there's no love lost. The only difference between Vijay's current form and his world beating stuff of the last couple of years is a cold putter. I have a theory that the poorer putters improve in matchplay, perhaps due to the goodwill received from team-mates and also the extra determination that comes from responsibility. Monty's matchplay form is a great example of this and I expect an improved putting display from Singh this week. Plus there is the extra advantage of knowing that the Fijian is a stone cold certainty to play all 5 matches here.
O'Hern rates worthy of a speculative each-way punt. Very much like Dimarco, the ultra-consistent left-hander is hopeless at closing out individual strokeplay events and seems to prefer this format. For a player who I've always had down as an arch-bottler, I was pleasantly surprised to see this Aussie hold his nerve to defeat Tiger at this year's World Matchplay.
I have to be honest and admit that the thought of the Seve Trophy turns me cold. The success of the Ryder Cup and to a lesser extent the Presidents Cup motivated the creation of this event 5 years ago but it hasn't managed to catch the public's imagination. The problem stems from the fact that a contest between the UK & Ireland and continental Europe lacks any meaningful rivalry. These lads play on the same tour most weeks and have developed a strong cameraderie in Ryder Cups over the last 20 years. The result is a tournament that gives the impression of being a bit of end of season fun - an afterthought in the players' schedules.
With all this in mind, I may well trade the outright result in running but cannot recommend an opinion. Nevertheless, golf is golf and I will have a few small interest bets on the top scorer markets. For continental Europe, lets side with in-form Swedish duo HENRIK STENSON and NICLAS FASTH. Stenson in particular is really going places and the competition here doesn't look very strong. Jean-Francois Remesy, Peter Hanson and Emanuelle Canonica particularly stand out as not being top class but even they can't be entirely ruled out in a contest like this.
For GB and Ireland, notably lacking Luke Donald and Darren Clarke, I like the look of IAN POULTER and GRAEME MCDOWELL. Feisty competitor Poulter looks particularly well suited to matchplay as his form in the World Matchplay shows. He always strikes me as the sort of streaky player who throws away a lot of rounds with one or two bad holes. With a disaster only costing one hole in this format, players like this often improve in matchplay. Similar comments apply to exciting prospect McDowell. This attacking player is bound to win many holes with birdies and has proven very reliable in team events in the past when a key member of the Walker Cup winning side as an amateur.
On to Texas then, for an unbelievably trappy contest. All the shrewd research and even a touch of mysticism couldn't have predicted the last two winners on this course, 200/1 shots Tommy Armour III and Bart Bryant. LaCantera is one of the easiest tracks on the Tour - target golf at its worst with a very low winning score assured. With all this in mind, again stakes must be kept to an absolute minimum at least until the weekend. The market leaders make no appeal as they are either out of form like Chad Campbell and KJ Choi or poor finishers like Rod Pampling, Jerry Kelly and Charles Howell. Instead I'm having a couple of each-way punts on in-form VAUGHAN TAYLOR and ace putter CARL PETTERSSON.
Since successfully defending his maiden Tour win at the Reno-Tahoe Classic, the promising Taylor has held his form with finishes of 3rd, 12th and 32nd. On that basis, he looks the one to beat in a very weak field. Swede Pettersson really is a speculative punt as he is still looking for his first win in the States. This time last year, he put in string of high finishes and his last two efforts suggest once again Carl has found his form for the autumn. 4th on his penultimate outing, 17th at the weekend was just about the worst possible position as a winning chance was surrendered with a couple of disaster holes on Sunday.
Good Luck!
PRESIDENTS CUP
7pts win INTERNATIONALS @ 6/4 (BET DIRECT, STAN JAMES, BLUESQ)
TOP US SCORER
3pts ew CHRIS DIMARCO @ 12/1 (PADDY POWER, BLUESQ)
1.5pts ew JIM FURYK @ 9/1 (BLUESQ)
1pt ew SCOTT VERPLANK @ 22/1 (CORALS)
TOP INTERNATIONAL SCORER
2pts win VIJAY SINGH @ 7/2 (GENERALLY AVAILABLE)
1pt ew NICK O'HERN @ 20/1 (GENERALLY AVAILABLE)
SEVE TROPHY
TOP EURO SCORER
1pt win HENRIK STENSON @ 6/1 (HILLS)
1pt win NICLAS FASTH @ 15/2 (SPORTING ODDS, PADDY POWER, STAN JAMES)
TOP GB & IRE SCORER
1pt win IAN POULTER @ 8/1 (BLUESQ)
1pt win GRAEME MCDOWELL @ 10/1 (GENERALLY AVAILABLE)
VALERO TEXAS OPEN
1pt ew VAUGHAN TAYLOR @ 28/1 (GENERALLY AVAILABLE)
1pt ew CARL PETTERSSON @ 66/1 (GENERALLY AVAILABLE)
posted by Paul Krishnamurty at 10:24 AM
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