Is someone doing a spread on the amount of pictures the players tweet from Leopard Creek, this week? I've already saw a few this morning (Monday) before I set off for work. The scenery is unbelievable; in the same league as Crans-sur-Sierre, but for different reasons. With Leopard Creek right next door to Kruger National Park the wildlife are everywhere. I hadn't done a blog before in this tourney, so I had to have a little look for some info on the course and found myself more interested in the wildlife that are housed (can I say housed?) on the course than the actual course itself! We have 'Harry the Hippo' in the lake at 16 along with a number of crocodiles in the dam at holes 5, 7 & 16. It would be interesting to see how many safari holidays are booked on the back of watching the golf here each year!
For those that aren't familiar with the course itself, here's some info - it's a Gary Player design which opened in 1996 and measures 7326 yards from the back sticks. There's a lot of water hazards, ranging from lakes to brooks to a river. The latter both feature in the signature hole; number 13. The rough is Kikuya grass and the greens are Creeping Bent. Past winners include Charl Schwartzel, Garth Mulroy, Pablo Martin (twice) and Ernie Els.
This isn't a tournament that I want to get to heavily involved in, so I'm firing just the two bullets. I think most people will be taking on Schwartzel at the prices. Yes it's his favourite course, yes he won here at a cantor last year, but 7/2, really? He was a bigger price coming into it last year after he lapped the field in Thailand and this time round he faltered with 13 holes to go last week. Maybe it was the pressure of trying to win his national championship, but it was enough to suggest 7/2 is too skinny.
First up is Jbe Kruger. He should be a popular choice after his finish last week. Kruger opened with a 65 last week and closed with one too, to move finish 2nd. He's one of 60 odd South Africans playing this week, many of whom I must admit I don't know much about! Last week Kruger's putting was his strength, whilst his driving was a little off. He's had nibbles of form in South Africa on the European Tour (a few Top 10's) but hasn't been in much form of late; until last week anyway. I'm hoping he kicks on again from last Sundays round and I'm happy to take his price in this sort of field.
Second up and more of a shot in dark, sort of pick, is Steve Webster. This guy is either hot or cold, he doesn't do consistent it seems. At the price and the fact he has a little bit of form in South Africa, in not very many starts I'm willing to give him a go. He was 7th here last year in what was a really good start to the season (he had three other Top 10's from South Africa through Dubai). After his good start though, he had a quiet season and his next Top 10 didn't arrive until Italy in September. I'm hoping he fancies another quick start to the season and at his price I'm happy to have a few quid each way.
On my sabbatical from golf blogging I've been keenly following the SkyLife podcast which is produced by Ben Coley (Sporting Life), John Rhodes (Sky Bet) and usually one other guest. They give their analysis on the previous week's golf and their insight on the up and coming tournaments. It gives you a chance to hear from the bookies side of the things for once; like who they're out to get! The link is usually posted on Twitter each week or if you have a tablet you can get the podcast from iTunes and it automatically downloads for you each week.
That's me for this week, I'll have a more detailed write up next week for the World Challenge. Good luck with whoever you go with.
My Selections:
Jbe Kruger @ 45/1 (1pt each way) with Stan James
Steve Webster @ 125/1 (0.5pt each way) with Sky Bet
Be Lucky!
Course info from www.europeantour.com
Prices from www.oddschecker.com
