davio

This week sees the second WGC event of the year with WGC-Cadillac Championship.

New world number one Rory McIlroy steps up to the tee along with Tiger Woods, Phil Mickleson, Lee Westwood, Masters Winner Charl Schwartzel, Former number 1 Luke Donald and Hennie Otto to name a few, so picking the winner from this field is going to be tough.

I’m swerving the top 4 in the betting and concentrating on players who offer value, good course form and good current form.

First up we have last year’s winners Nick Watney. Although he’s yet to really contend this year, Form figures of W / T9 / T2 can’t be ignored and the 33/1 is a fair price for a player capable of doing well around here. If he can improve on his Par 3 and 4 performances then the par 5’s seem to take of themselves (-26 for his scores on par 5’s this year) so there would no reason to think he wouldn’t be contending for the W come sunday.

Secondly we have Webb Simpson, last years great form seems to have carried on into this season as Simpson has already posted two top ten finishes. An early exit from the Match play isn’t really a negative in my book and although he’s making his debut in this event, 45/1 for a player of his class is way too big. He’s first in GIR, is in the top 10 for birdie or better leaders on par 3’s and 4’s and 5th on scoring overall average. In fact the more I look at it the more I can’t believe he’s 45/1! (bet365)

Finally we have a player who has expressed his love of Doral and in the last 2 years has finished T3 & T14. That man is Francesco Molinari. Add that to two top 20 finishes so far this year and the 110/1 with Boyle Sports could look massive come Sunday, a cracking e/w bet.

Qatar Masters

Nice and easy picks here Quiros and Karlsson. The 22/1 e/w on AQ has long gone so snap up what you can, and Karlsson in good e/w at 22/1. Both have won in the middle east and at this track.



Waste Management Phoenix Open

Let’s go with Nick Watney. His form round here reads T5 / T24 / T12 / T34 / T32 which is pretty solid stuff, he was in the top 35 for Par 3’s, 4’s, 5’s and putting performance last year making him a solid ew shout at 25/1.

Next up J.B. Holmes, two wins and 3 top 5’s in 6 starts makes him am ideal candidate for this week, 66/1 with Ladbrokes looks a cracking e/w bet.

Brian Gay also has some decent form around here (T18 / T68 / T6 / T17 / T23) couple that with his impressive par 3 and putting performance and not to shabby 4 and 5 efforts also makes him a good e/w bet at 66/1.

Finally, a shot in the dark with Chris Couch. Although he’s coming off two m/c he has stats of T8 / T4 for the last two years and was in the top 20 for both par 4 and putting performance. At 150/1 ew he’s a small bet for interest.

After last weeks shambles, which was eased somewhat with a bet on Grace I/R on the Saturday morning, we move on to the Humana (Bob Hope) Challenge and the Volvo Golf Champions.

And it’s with the Humana where we shall begin.

There’s tons of course form and player history to work with this week at La Quinta and a case can be made for about half of the field so let’s try and narrow it down and hopefully unearth the winner.

Two bets jump out for me this week and they are Bill Haas and Matt Kuchar.

Hass nearly went achieved back to back victories last year but was piped by Johnny Vegas and is a whopping -57 for the last two years. 25/1 has long gone but is still worth a punt at 20/1.

Matt Kuchar somehow contrived not to win last year but still had 2 2nds, 1 3rd and 9 top ten finishes highlighting his consistency. Couple that with T7 and T2 in the last two years and that makes him a worthy favourite in my book. The current price of 16/1 isn’t overly attractive so it might pay off to see if he drifts in the market as the tournament kicks off. Either way, make sure he's on your side.

At bigger prices I’ve hopefully found three that can reward us e/w.

First up: Ryan Palmer. He boasts 2 top 10 finishes around here and is a stand out 90/1 with Stan James.

Next we have Stephen Ames. He has 3 top 10 finishes around here and although 2011 was a year to forget the odds at 100/1 + are attractive to my eyes given his course form. He was playing well last week before a last day 75 put paid to his chances. With the cobwebs now blown away he can go well.

Finally we have a shot in the dark with Josh Teater. Around this course we have many a par 5 and Teater has impressive stats in 2011 on the par 5’s. 20th in Par 5 Birdie or Better Leaders, 6th in par 5 performance and a Par 5 Avg of -4.60. If he brings that form to this course then the 300/1+ on betfair may be made to look a wee bit silly.


Over in Europe with have the Volvo Golf Champions.

Only the second time this tournament has been played so we have little course form to work with. We are on the final leg off the mini South Africa tour so let’s have a look who steps up this week. Ooosty and Charl make no appeal at the prices and there are question marks about most of the field.

With that in mind ill look for some good old fashioned ‘value’.

Jiminez came T2’d here last year losing to Casey by just one shot. At 33/1 he = e/w value.

Raphael Jacquelin was T1 here after two rounds here before falling away to finish T44.

The three time tour winner is 66/1 and that’s too big in my book.

It was supposed to be so easy…..well it was looking that way after day 1 when Aiken and Byrd sat on top of the pile, looking down on the rest. However it wasn’t to be as the two tournament favourites battled back to win clearly in the end.

Moving on to this week and we stay in the same part of the world with both tours as we take in the Joburg and the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Starting with the Joburg Open and the main player here is Masters Winner Charl Schwartzel. The 4/1 on him has long gone (although Bwin and Sporting bet haven’t priced up the market yet) and he is widely available at 7/2.

Now 7/2 might be skinnier than an anorexic model but given the fact he’s won this in the past two years and came fourth in 09 makes him the stand out pick.

E/W value can be found in the guise of Jean-Baptiste Gonnet, or John the Baptist to his mates. His three rounds here read 5/MC/T12. Currently a whopping 119/1 on the exchanges (66/1) with the bookies, he’s a viable bet to lay option should he make a fast start as he did last year by shooting an opening day round of 67.

Finally we have a small e/w chance with Sportinglife’s choice of Neil Schietekat. Talking to the Sunshine Tour's official website he said: "I played this course every Tuesday and Thursday morning when I was an amateur and I have just got to know it really well so I look forward to playing it in competition every year”. At 300/1 in places, he’s worth a small poke.


The Sony Open in Hawaii is played at Waialae Country Club and is a Par 70 Course.

As its a par 70, par 5’s are at a premium, so you’d need some one with has good performances on the Par 3’s and 4’s as well as a good putting average to take advantage of any birdie opportunities that come that their way, oh and a decent driving accuracy % wouldn’t go a miss either.

Zach Johnson, pipped by Tiger in his last event, is a previous winner here. He was 8th in driving accuracy last year, was T27 on par 4 performances and was in the top 30 for putts per round. With all that in mind I’ll have him the main bet this week.

To go with Zach Johnson step forward Steve Marino.

Not a name that many will know but with 3 top 10 finishes in his last 3 tournaments here, he is a solid e/w bet.

Chad Campbell makes up this weeks trio. Not the greatest of players but he does seem to have an affinity to this place with recent form figures of T13 / T8 / T10. Again, an e/w bet.

Bonus Fortuna

As Gary Glitter no longer sings in Thailand ‘It’s good to be back…hello…”

The golfing years kicks off with The Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii and the Africa Open in South Africa.

The Hyundai Tournament of Champions takes place at the Plantation Course at Kapalua and is a whopping par 73 spanning a course yardage of 7411. Wowsers.

The event itself is for last years winners on the PGA tour and a total of 28 players’ line up for contention this week.

Stricker and Simpson are obvious favourites but im looking further a field for my picks this week and first on the list is Jonathan Byrd. His form around here reads W/T15/T13 and has an average score around here of 68.81. 28/1 on the exchanges looks good value for last year’s victor.

Lucas Glover in this reduced field is worthy of an e/w bet at 40/1 with Ladbrokes.

Although the Wells Fargo winner didn’t really kick on after taking the W back in May, he is worth siding with as he is just shy of 300 yards average with his driving and T15th on par 5’s which will come in handy around here. Add that with a T14 (where a last day 76 ruined his chances)in '10 and a 6th back in ’06 and 40/1 starts looking quite nice.


The Race to Dubai gets underway with The Africa Open in South Africa.


Louis Oosthuizen is the current defending champion and lines up to defend his crown but at top price 11/2 he’s far to skinny to be involved with.

Im keen on Thomas Aiken’s chances his week. He has course form of T14/2 and with a T3 in the SA Championship on his last start on native soil; Aiken is the main bet this week. At 16/1 with Ladbrokes he’s worth a back e/w as well as the nice chaps at the magic sign are paying 6 places, Get on.

As a back up to Aiken we have Brandon Grace. Two T8 rounds here in the last two years he’s a worthy e/w bet at 40/1.


Let the fun begin...

As the golf season draws to a close we have the Australian Masters and the Thailand Golf Championship to keep us busy this week.

The Australian Masters is being held for then second year at The Victoria Golf Club. There is little course form to play with apart from last years event and the 2002 Australian Open, with that in mind class should out and hopefully Luke Donald with cap his impressive year of with a W.

A back up option will be Marcus Fraser (e/w), who has some solid form going into this week.

Over in Thailand we have the inaugural Thailand Golf Championship and like the Australian Open im hoping class will out and Lee Westwood will take the victory. After his impressive performance in South Africa he didn’t quite get going in Dubai but hopefully with a weakened field to face this week he will make amends for last week.

Also a double of Donald and Westwood pays a tasty 29/1. And after the three amigos did the job two weeks ago....

What to say about last week apart from #winning?

It would have been nice if Poulter could have won in Hong Kong (the acca was 291/1) but alas you can’t win them all. Unless of course, you are one of the lucky boys and girls who had Rory, Lee and Tiger all to win. Kudos.

Moving on…

This week we have the final chapter of the Race to Dubai 2011 with the Dubai World Championship in which Donald and McIlroy are vying for the Number 1 spot. If Donald can keep McIlroy at bay it will see him become the first player to top both money lists in one season.  As the pressure this week will be on them two, this should open up the field for a few others to take centre stage.

Last year Lee Westwood failed to defend his title by one shot. After spanking the field last week in the Nedbank i am taking him again this week to get the W. He’s -23 around here for his 8 rounds and has shot 7 out of 8 rounds in the 60’s. I can’t find a fault with him this week and is the main win only bet.

Chasing him home last week was last year’s winner of this event, Robert Karlsson. Victorious last year, thanks in part to Poulter’s tiddly wink impression in the playoff, he did show his show resolve to force a play off after shooting 75 on day 2. He comes here in decent form and he’s a good e/w bet.

Following on from Bobby K we will also go with the unlucky loser last year, Ian Poulter. He comes here from a T4 in Hong Kong, where a poor opening day put pay to his W Chances but battled back and with a bit more luck with a few putts on the last few holes he could have been much closer to the winner. He’s had two top ten places here in the last two years (2/T9) and like Bobby K he’s a good e/w bet.

Finally we have Thomas Aiken. He has finished T13 in the last two years, is coming off a T3 in the SA open championship and a tasty 119/1 on betfair he’s a must for the shortlist.

This week’s instalment on the European Tour takes in Hong Kong with the UBS Hong Kong Open. After narrowly missing out in the World cup last week we’ll take last years winner, Ian Poulter, as the main bet for the week.

After shooting a 60 here last year, Poults obviously likes ‘the course. I like the way it’s not very long and you have to think your way around it, playing positional stuff. The greens are small and pretty true, and if you get the putter going you can shoot some good scores. It's just a nice blend.  It's old school.’

He would be a much shorter price if it wasn’t for McIlroy in the field and at 14/1; he has to be one for the shortlist.

Next up: Marcus Fraser. Two top 10 finishes in his last 4 starts on the European tour along with a second place in the recent Australian PGA (which saw him lose in the play off to Greg Chalmers) reads well. Add that to his two Top 10 rounds around this course makes him a solid e/w bet this week.

Finally we have the Thailand Typhoon Thongchai Jaidee. His form has been quite erratic this season but with three sub 70 rounds in the Johor Open along with 3 Top 10 and 7 top 20’s in this tournament (when played as the Omega Hong Kong Open) makes him worth a little dabble e/w.

We also have the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa and there is only one man I shall be focusing on and that man is Lee Westwood. He won at a canter last year and with many question marks about his rivals, including Luke Donald (poor course form, new born child, death of his father) makes Lee the stand out bet.

Normally they have a ‘who will finish last?’ bet and if the bookies mark this up then Darren Clarke is the man to take home the wooden spoon.

Over in America we have the Chevron World Challenge and again there’s only one man I can have in this and that’s Tiger Woods.

He really should have won this last year and he will make amends this time round.

Chasing him round the course will be Paul Casey. He seems to like the event and his recent form (1/7/wd/14/T4) makes him a nice e/w bet at 20/1.

This week the European rocks up to the Serengeti Golf Club in Ekurhuleni for the South African Open Championship.  With the course only holding the event for the second time we don’t really have much course form to play with.

Messrs Louis and Charl are off playing in the world cup, leaving the two gold oldies at the head of the betting.

Els piped Goosen in this last year by 1 shot and im taking Goosen to exact his revenge this time round. Goosen out performed Els in last weeks presidents cup and if he can bring that form to the course this week, along with the fact that the every South African loves to win on his own patch, he has every chance of claiming the W.

Now last week Robert Rock and I had a bit of a falling out. Well I say we did, it was more me shouting obscenities at the TV because after a nice opening round of 69 he then threw in stinker of a 75. Then he went and shot a 67 only to follow that up with another 75. With a T5 finish last year under his belt, hopefully he can shoot 4 consecutively (good!) rounds and challenge the leader board. If not, I know where you live Robert…

Next up is Dinwiddie. Like Rock I had him last week and a bit more composure would have seen him improve on his T15 finish. At 90/1 he’s a goof e/w bet, add that to his T9 last time round (would have been much better if not for his opening round of 71) and im quietly confident of a good showing.


Down under we also have the Australian PGA Championship

In this im going with

Nick O’Hern
Geoff Ogilvy
Ricky Fowler

Will have to see how the following three get priced up but O’Hern and Fowler possible e/w with a straight win on Geoff

First up, the blurb...


The Iskandar Johor Open is one of the fastest-growing tournaments on the Asian Tour, and has attracted some of the best golfers in the world. The event was successfully staged at the Royal Johor Country Club for the first three years and at Horizon Hills Golf and Country Club in 2010.

It returns to Johor for the fifth time at Horizon Hills, where once again golf fans will be able to witness yet another exciting golf tournament which is staking its claim as one of the top events on the Asian Tour calendar. It reaches a new level on the international golf schedule with its elevation to a co-sanctioned tournament with the Asian and European Tours for 2011.

Betting wise it’s the easiest choices I’ve had this year

Step forward Anthony Kim and Louis Oosthuizen

Kim’s recent form in this part of the world reads

2nd @ Lake Malaren Shanghai Masters
T3 @ CJ Invitational
T3 @ Barclays Singapore Open (would have made the play off but for bogeying the last hole)

If anyone is going to challenge him to the W then that man is Louis Oosthuizen.

His recent form, like Kim’s, is eye-catching…

Barclays Singapore Open
13/11/2011    3rd

WGC - HSBC Champions
06/11/2011    7th

Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
02/10/2011    5th


Looking at the prices on offer it’s clear that these are the two men to beat and, let’s be honest, it doesn’t take a genius to pick the pair. A Dutch on both should lead to a nice easy profit come Sunday.



Also this week we take in the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek CC

Lacking the glamour names of previous years we have a lot of chaff to wade through to try and find the wheat. The four names on the hit list are….

Robert Rock.

In the last 5 years at this course his form reads T17 / T14 / T2 / T4 / T8. What I get from that is that he knows how to knock a ball around this course. With his maiden victory in the bag and on a course he seems to do well on, victory number 2 shouldn’t be that far away.

Next up: Robert Dinwiddie.

With two top 10s in 08 and 10, he seems to like the African air. Looking at his form this year it doesn’t inspire confidence but if you look a bit closer you can see that at the start of last year, in three tournaments in Africa, his form reads 6 / 9 / 7. With that in mind he looks a good e/w bet with back to lay options.

Third choice is Tano Goya


And this is purely a twitter tip…

Tanogoya Estanislao Goya
Finally arrived to the destination! Tomorrow half day safari before starting with the practice!! Love South Africa!!!

That’s it, that’s all im going off, a tweet from some dude saying he likes South Africa…

E/W material and hopefully he’ll like the course as much as he loves Sarf Afrika


Last but not least, Tommy Fleetwood

Number one golfer on the challenge tour this year he found conditions a bit rough last time out in Singapore. Hopefully in a much easier field he can find his feet and give us a decent run for our money.


I was close to adding Jbe’ Kruger but, well, Freddie’s son doesn’t seem to do well round here (three M/C’s and 1 top 10 finish). It wouldn’t surprise me if he came back to bite me in the balls but i'll leave him for now as he’s pencilled in for a bet in a few weeks time

Happy Punting.

****Just in 15/11****

Over in the land of the rising sun we have this year’s instalment of the Dunlop Phoenix which has attracted G-Mac, Gary Woodland, Singapore winner Fernandez-Castaño and my main pick, Eddie Molinari.

Molinari has previous form in this event winning in 09 before returning to defend his title with a T4 place in 2010. A 10/1 poke with Bet365 he is a solid win only bet.

Not being totally au fait with the Japanese field, I had a look through past events in the hope of finding a home player at a big price who has gone well round here before.

Hopefully that man will be Masaya Tomida. In the last three years he has finished 3rd / T15 / 6. At a tasty 100/1 he fits the bill perfectly and if he can’t win the shin dig he can at least reward us with a 25/1 place.

幸運