Shell Houston Open
With this tournament being used by a couple of the bigger names as their last preparation for Augusta it’s hard to assess who is out for the win. You may laugh, but, Phil Mickelson regularly turns up to tournaments the week before a major and practises shots he will need the following week. If Phil does turn up with the ‘A’ game and gets the ‘W’ it would mean that the Top 4 in the betting for the Masters have all won their last start before Augusta. That’s got to be a first!
Steve Stricker must be buzzing after his buddy Tiger finally got his win last week. Stricker has been Tiger's' go to guy for his putting and that’s what could get Stricker the ‘W’ this week. He already has a victory this year and notched up 3 Top 10’s in 4 events, 2 of which were the World Golf Championships. Stricker has decent tourney form as well, T-4 last year and 3 Top 15 finishes in the last 6 years which included a 3rd place finish in ’06. His putting stats in the last 5 years have been phenomenal, consistently near the top each year. It’s no surprise to see that being in the Top 5 in Greens In Regulation (GIR) also gives him the best ranking in birdie average this year, sometimes this stuff writes itself.
Now for a big price each way. Chad Campbell is a guy who must wake up in the morning and wish that putting wasn’t a part of golf. He hasn’t been in the Top 100 of the putting stats in 3 years, with his ball striking ability that must be frustrating. He was 4th in GIR last year and didn’t even sniff a victory. He tends to play a little better closer to home, he was T-13 last year in Houston and was T-2 in ’08. Other than that I am basing my selection more on his old form, with 4 PGA Tour victories and 11 Runner-Up finishes I just can’t get away from monster 125/1 on offer. Unfortunately Campbell is a guy that tends to lose interest pretty quickly when things aren’t going his way, so I will probably know the fate of this bet on Thursday night after the First Round!
I am going to use a second bullet this year on Paul Casey as my Top 10 bet. As mentioned in one of my earlier posts Casey is fighting his way back from injury. He’s a class act when on form and I really don’t want to miss the week he comes good. I don’t think I would be backing him to win the event but I certainly won’t be putting anyone off the 9/1 for a Top 10 finish in an event he previously won in ’09.
Chad Campbell 125/1 each way with Will Hill
Paul Casey 9/1 Top 10 finish with Stan James
Sicilian Open
This is only the second playing of the Sicilian Open with Raphael Jacquelin defending his trophy that he won at Verdura Golf and Spa resort. The course itself is a links course measuring 7,375 yards.
With the very little course form to pick through I decided to have a bit of a punt on someone who has shown little form of late but has plenty of form on the links! Chris Wood has had two Top 5 finishes at the Open Championship, one of those coming when he still had amateur status. When he turned pro I think a lot of people including myself thought he would become a solid tour player and would get a few victories under his belt. That hasn’t materialised with Wood picking up a few injuries along the way. His season thus far hasn’t been great, just mustering the two Top 20 finishes, but hopefully he can find his feet on the links again and post a few solid scores.
Steve Webster is another guy that isn’t exactly setting the world alight of late but had a solid end to last year and hopefully can get back on track this week. Webster posted a good early round of 67 last year before 3 mediocre rounds pushed him back for a T-26. He is a two time winner on the European Tour and if he can somehow find his form again the 10/1 on offer for a Top 10 finish looks massive.
Another big price for value seekers could be Peter Lawrie. Lawrie also finished T-26 last year with a moving day 66 on Saturday before a poor final round. Like most Irish golfers he has form on links golf courses. As I mentioned above, its only the second playing of the tournament and actually only the 3rd year the course has been open so it’s not a betting market to dive into.
My Selections :
Chris Wood 55/1 each way with Coral
Peter Lawrie 80/1 each way with Bet365
Steve Webster 10/1 for a Top 10 finish with SkyBet
No comments:
Post a Comment