After a windy afternoon and with more bad weather forecast in Spain, The Punter takes a step back. Meanwhile, in America something strange is afoot…
Nobody had jumped out and screamed ‘back me’ prior to the off in Spain so I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised that all my selections have flopped.
I’d factored in the weather forecast, which had suggested a windy Friday afternoon, and my picks certainly had the best of the draw as a result but they were still next to useless. Paul Broadhurst fared best, but he’s eight off the lead.
I added to my weak looking portfolio after day one, backing Gregory Havret at [70.0], who yesterday shot 79 and missed the cut and with Chris Wood at [30.0]. Mercifully he wasn’t completely useless, quite the contrary, he stoically shot two under in the afternoon wind and is now five off the lead and a smidgen shorter than the price I took.
Although not really at the races, I’m not going to do anything else just yet, I don’t like the leaders much and the weather forecast isn’t great - lots more wind today, gusting up to 35 mph, so it could well turn into a bit of a lottery.
I was tempted to lay the leading pair, Thomas Levet and Soren Hansen and I considered backing defending champ, Peter Lawrie, who should handle the poor conditions and sounded quite keen to put up a stout defence. When interviewed yesterday he spoke of how he felt aggrieved at how little attention the media gave him as defending champion. But after some deliberation, other than a small interest in Stephen Dodd at [100.0], who seems to be finding some form and won’t mind the conditions today, I’ve decided to leave it and see how things develop in the adverse weather.
In America I did something rather strange on Thursday. After ignoring him pre-event, considering his price of [12.0] to be too short, I backed Mickelson at [9.0] - when he was three shots behind Tiger Woods!
It sounds crazy and maybe it was, but Lefty looked to be charging, having raced to four under through just seven holes. Woods was safely in the clubhouse but I had visions of Lefty catching the maestro and throwing down the gauntlet, but it didn’t quite pan out like that. Instead he gained just one more shot and scrambled home, lucky not to drop shots.
Yesterday was a fascinating, frustrating and ultimately fairly satisfying day. Among the morning starters, Mickelson was two under for his round after seven holes and my main pre-event pick, Anthony Kim, was following him along nicely. But then Lefty four putted the 17th hole and Kim three putted the 18th, an ugly pair of double bogies.
There was a ray of hope with Zach Johnson though, backed before the off at [150.0], as he steamed through the field, sinking birdie after birdie but his finish just added to my frustrations when he bogeyed his last three holes, or the Green Mile as that notoriously difficult stretch of holes has been nicknamed.
By the time Tiger teed of he’d contracted from around [1.8] to about [1.5], whereas Lefty had drifted from [7.2] right out to [12.0].
I confess I feared the worst and having looked forward to the event was feeling a bit miffed at the prospect of a Tiger trounce over the weekend, but when he bogeyed the first there was hope.
All at sea and accepting the worst, I went for a mind clearing walk, only to return to the sight of Woods draining a monster birdie putt on the 9th. Heavy-hearted and resigned to the inevitable I watched in some pain as he birdied the next but then it all got a bit scrappy and those who have taken sub [1.5] about the great man can’t be too happy with themselves. He bungled his way in, dropping a couple of shots over the Green Mile, blowing the tournament wide open.
It really is a mouth-watering leaderboard now, with half of the top-10 former major winners, reflecting what a thoroughly testing this course is. It’s now set up perfectly for a great weekend and I just hope Tiger doesn’t find his range and shoot clear tonight because if he doesn’t I’ve got a chance and it’ll be quite a spectacle whoever wins.
I’ll post a review of the weekend on Monday.
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Tags: america, maestro, Tiger Woods, UNC, weather
