Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championsip
It’s been an interesting few days in the golf world. Rors finally signs for Nike and Paul McGinley (deservingly) gets the nod to be the 2014 Ryder Cup Captain at Gleneagles.
I also learnt two things; the first being every time I put a stat on my blog it subsequently isn’t a stat anymore, and if you run a successful Twitter campaign you can become a Ryder Cup Captain. This is where you all come in; I expect you to pull out all the stops so that I captain the 2016 team. Thanks in advance. With regards the stat, I put one on my blog last week, which stated that since 1996 the winner of the Sony Open had played Waialae Country Club at least twice prior to victory, in steps Russell Henley to blow that one out of the water. Scott Langley deserves a mention too.
On a serious note regarding the Ryder Cup captaincy. I think the committee made the right choice in the end. However I can’t say I was a fan of how it played out. It looked like Monty would get the vote until McIlroy (most notably) and others took to Twitter to show their support for Paul McGinley; subsequently McGinley got the nod. Although I agree with them that you should only have one opportunity to Captain the team, I think that it came across disrespectful to Monty, who let’s not forget was a winning Captain at Celtic Manor. It would appear that there will be a new procedure put in place in future so that there isn't another saga when voting for the Ryder Cup Captain.
Last weeks selections weren’t great, Pettersson never really got started and Kuchar decided he couldn’t be arsed moving on ‘moving day’. Off the top of my head I think he was the only person in the Top 10 who didn’t break par on Saturday; though he had a solid enough tournament, all things considered. His tie for 5th just about covers my stakes for last week.
This week we are off to Abu Dhabi for the HSBC Golf Championship and a decent field has been assembled, as usual. The biggest draw will obviously be Tiger and Rory after Rors signed up to Nike this week. He also starred as himself in possibly the cheesiest (though funny) golf ad in history for Nike (watch at the foot of this blog), together with Tiger. Though I think there will be a few boys happy enough to slip under the radar, none more so than Dubai specialist and Ryder Cup hero, Martin Kaymer
I think the winner will probably come from the head of the market, McIlroy, Woods, Kaymer and Rose all have massive chances but I fancy taking them on with some bigger prices and get some decent each way money *crosses fingers*.
First up I’m going with a player very much in form. Although it’s a step up in class, so to speak, I fancy Scott Jamieson to go well again. He’ll be disappointed with how last week finished but he’s playing well and has played well in Dubai before; granted not in this tourney. I loved the pitch he hit at 18 last week, he needed to hole his pitch for eagle and a play off; he pitched it to a couple of inches! He won the weather interrupted Nelson Mandela (36 holes) and had a T-3 at the Alfred Dunhill Championship before his runner up finish at the Volvo Champions event last week. As I said he didn’t play well in this tourney last year but did finish in the Top 5 a couple of weeks later at the Dubai Desert Classic and had a Top 15 finish at the World Tour Championship (end of season), after finishing with a final round 66. I don’t read too much into stats at the start of the year but it should be noted that 5 out of the last 7 years the winner has topped the Par 4 scoring; hitting GIR is a must it seems.
My second pick this week Peter Hanson. He’s bound to be a popular each way alternative. Hansen had a final round to forget here last year, but has gone on to better things since. He had Top 5’s at the next two WGC's before a T-3 at the Masters Tournament. He finished 2012 with victories at the KLM Open and BMW Masters. You can sometimes learn more about a golfer by how they react to disappointment (here last year) than anything else, Hanson reacted like someone who knows he has the potential to be a Top 10 player and contend in the big tourneys against the best in the business; he has McIlroy and Woods to contend with this week.
Before I wrap up I should mention I joined a wee comp this week. Ben Coley of BettingZone fame has decided to run a ‘One-and-done’ competition for the European Tour events this year. The rules are simple, you pick who you think can win each week, but after you use that player once, you can’t use them again. So you got to look ahead and have a bit of a game plan. The winner of the competition will be the person who accumulates the biggest total of tournament earnings from their picks throughout the season. At the time of doing this post I still haven’t decided who I am going to pick, but keep an eye on my Twitter and when I decide who, I’ll post it there. If anyone isn’t following Ben on Twitter you should do so now (@BenColeyGolf), he writes the previews for BettingZone and Sporting Life and is an absolute stat attack, quality follow!
Be Lucky!
My Selections:
Scott Jamieson each way with Paddy Power 66/1 (6 places)
Peter Hanson each way with Boylesports 30/1 (5 places)
Rory and Tiger's new Nike Ad.
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